US Secretary Antony Blinken to visit quake-hit Turkey on Sunday
- 16 Feb 2023
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel Sunday to Turkey to discuss support after a massive earthquake, his first trip to the NATO ally which has had turbulent relations with Washington.
Blinken will visit Incirlik air base, through which the United States has shipped aid, and then hold talks in the capital Ankara on "continued US support," State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday.
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The top US diplomat will also take part in the Munich Security Conference, where the Ukraine war and tensions with China will take center-stage, and will visit Turkey's historic rival Greece, a fellow NATO ally.
The United States has flown in some 200 rescuers and contributed an initial $85 million in relief for Turkey, deploying Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters to bring supplies to worst-hit areas.
The February 6 earthquake that has killed nearly 40,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
The visit, which was being planned before the February 6 earthquake that has killed nearly 40,000 people in the country and neighboring Syria, will be the first by Blinken to Turkey after more than two years in office.
President Joe Biden was elected after promising to take a greater distance from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Biden has previously branded an autocrat.
But the Biden administration has since viewed Turkey as helpful for a mediatory role between Russia and Ukraine, including in a deal to ship grain through the Black Sea to alleviate world shortages.
The Biden administration has voiced support for Turkey's request to buy F-16 fighter-jets but the sale is being blocked in Congress due to concerns over Turkey's human rights record and threats to Greece.
The United States has been seeking ways to encourage Erdogan to lift his objections to NATO membership by Sweden and Finland, which have shed earlier neutrality since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Agence Frnace-Presse