Türkiye's top diplomat is set to embark on a two-day visit to the United States on Thursday. The highlight of the visit was the seventh edition of the Türkiye-U.S. Strategic Mechanism meeting. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was invited to Washington by his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken following the latter's visit to Türkiye in January.

The Strategic Mechanism, established after a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in Rome in 2021, aims to expand the scope of relations between the two NATO allies.

Turkish diplomatic sources said that during Fidan's visit, the Turkish and U.S. delegations will discuss bilateral relations and conduct dialogue on global and regional issues.

Fidan is also expected to meet U.S. senators and Biden's national security advisor Jake Sullivan. He is also scheduled to attend events held by several U.S.-based think tanks.

Sources said Fidan would also convey Türkiye's expectations from the U.S. in the fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the PKK. Ankara has criticized the U.S. in the past for its blatant support of the PKK under the guise of a fight against Daesh in Syria. The U.S. is also under fire for hosting FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, who resides in a retreat in Pennsylvania.

Other topics on the agenda of Fidan's visit are cooperation in the defense industry, progress in Türkiye's acquisition of F-16 fighter jets and the anticipated exclusion of Türkiye from the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Diplomatic sources say Türkiye expected the lifting of sanctions for the security of NATO's southern borders.

Fidan and U.S. officials will also discuss concrete steps to advance economic relations as trade volume between the two countries exceeded $30 billion (TL 94.9 billion) in the past two years. Another topic is energy cooperation. Türkiye is the biggest buyer of LNG from the U.S.

The Palestine-Israel conflict will also be discussed during Fidan's visit. Diplomatic sources said Türkiye will reiterate its call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and action for a two-state solution to the conflict.

The Strategic Mechanism meeting presents a vital opportunity to establish a "forward-looking, positive agenda," according to U.S. government officials.

"Together, we're building a positive, forward-looking strategic agenda to advance our shared objectives," U.S. officials told reporters ahead of Fidan's meeting.

"We really need to seize this opportunity. We couldn't agree more. This is something that we've been working very hard at for quite some time," U.S. government officials said.

"We reenergize this relationship to find the areas and to identify the areas where we can have this forward-looking relationship and we can talk about many shared objectives we have," the officials said.

The U.S. government officials expressed happiness that economic relations will be a focus of the strategic mechanism meeting this year as it really reflects the importance of those issues in bilateral ties between the two countries.

"Trade and investment as well as economic cooperation are critical pillars of our relationship," the officials said, adding: "So, we hope to use the strategic mechanism to expand that economic engagement on a range of issues, including energy, trade and economic cooperation in other regions."

"We think there's a lot of opportunities to work with Türkiye in places like Africa and Central Asia to deliver much-needed development and counter the influence of China and Russian activities in those regions," U.S. government officials said.

The official said that there are immense market opportunities for U.S. firms in Türkiye and Turkish firms in the U.S., which will also be a focus of this week's conversation.

"Opportunities exist in the energy sector, health care, information and communications technologies, smart cities and transportation," the official said, adding that the meeting will also see a "dedicated" session on energy and climate.

"We're very keen to promote Türkiye's role as an energy supplier for Europe, including through increased exports of non-Russian gas," U.S. officials said.

Speaking about the relations in the field of education, U.S. government officials said the number of Turkish students studying in the U.S. "has gone up two years in a row."

Noting that the two nations are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the U.S.-Türkiye Fulbright program this year, the officials said since 1949, around 6,500 scholars and other participants have been supported by this program.

Touching on the U.S. sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye, U.S. officials said: "The F-16 deal is a massive economic opportunity and a massive defense deal."

"It's critical to NATO's strength, it's critical for interoperability amongst allies and it's just there's greater capacity to advance our collective security."