Türkiye's defense and intelligence chiefs on Friday hosted members of the U.S. House of Representatives for talks in Ankara.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler received Mike Rogers, chairperson of the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ranking Member Adam Smith, and other members Salud Carbajal and Veronica Escobar, Güler’s office said in a statement.
The sides discussed the fight against terror groups like Daesh and the PKK, particularly U.S. support for the YPG, and the F-16 procurement and modernization process awaiting U.S. congressional approval.
The U.S. delegation is expected to meet with National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director Ibrahim Kalın on similar issues, as well as bilateral ties, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Washington on May 9.
The U.S. officials separately held talks with Turkish Parliamentary Defense Commission chief Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.
“We have reiterated that Türkiye has nothing against Israel’s existence but the killing of children, women and innocent people must be stopped as soon as possible,” Akar told reporters after the meeting.
The sides also discussed the tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia in a “constructive and positive way,” according to Akar.
“We agreed to continue our talks in either Türkiye or the United States,” he said.
As for the F-16 deal, the former defense minister said there were “no problems” regarding the process.
On the issue of PKK/YPG, Akar said, “We conveyed to them our concerns about the PKK and YPG and reiterated the need to cooperate as two allies against the presence of PKK/YPG, as well as Daesh in northern Syria and Iraq.”
At a time of lukewarm relations, Erdoğan is scheduled to fly to the U.S. on May 9, upon invitation of his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden, Turkish media outlets reported earlier this week, for his first visit to the White House under the Biden administration.
Türkiye and the U.S. are two historic allies, though their ties deteriorated due to disagreements over several issues.
Diplomatic ties remain robust, and the two leaders occasionally talk to each other over the phone, but their last in-person meeting was in July during a NATO summit. The same event focused on Sweden's NATO membership, something Türkiye initially opposed.
After Türkiye's approval of the accession, ties regained momentum. Most recently, Fidan and Kalın held talks in the U.S. Their visit was viewed as a preparatory meeting for Biden-Erdoğan talks.
Erdoğan and Biden will have a lot to discuss, but the situation in Gaza, defense cooperation and the fight against terrorism are all expected to be hot topics.
Erdoğan will reiterate Türkiye's call for an end to Israel's attacks in Gaza and find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict solely based on a two-state solution.
The Turkish president has long been critical of the U.S. stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, particularly Washington's unconditional support of the Netanyahu administration, which he accused of committing crimes against innocent Palestinians. In February, Erdoğan told journalists that the peace process in the conflict failed to bear fruit due to the negative approach of the U.S.
Another issue straining ties is Washington's continued support for the YPG, the Syrian branch of the PKK terrorist group, which has killed thousands in Türkiye over the past four decades.
Earlier this month, Turkish officials reiterated a call to the U.S. to end its support for the YPG after a high-level U.S. visit to the terrorist group.
"The U.S. continues to support the PKK/YPG/SDF terrorist organization under the pretext of fighting against Daesh. It is not possible to fight a terrorist organization using another terrorist organization. So the fight against terrorism cannot be done with terrorists," a Defense Ministry source told reporters.
The PKK/YPG has grown stronger in the region, particularly in Deir el-Zour province, home to Syria's largest oil wells, thanks to material support from the U.S.
Ankara often warns its NATO ally against aiding terror elements that threaten its national security, something Washington continues to do despite promising to remove the group from the Turkish border area.
"We maintain our will to create a 30 to 40-kilometer-deep (19 to 25-mile-deep) security corridor along our Syrian border. We are determined to fill the gaps in this corridor with new steps, part of which we have already established with our previous operations," Erdoğan said in statements earlier this month. Turkish armed forces and MIT regularly conduct operations against the PKK/YPG presence in Syria and Iraq.
"As we have openly told them in person, we call on all in the region to respect our security strategy. Otherwise, they themselves will be the reason for potential tensions," the president warned.
