Defense cooperation was among the main topics as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a visit to Türkiye and Greece on Friday and Saturday.
Ankara expects Washington to conclude the process for the sale of F-16 fighter jets, the Turkish foreign minister told his U.S. counterpart in an Istanbul meeting. Türkiye aims for the delivery of 40 F-16 fighter jets and nearly 80 modernization kits for its air force from the United States. Biden's administration officially backs the sale, but it has been unable to overcome resistance in Congress from lawmakers, which tied the sale to Türkiye's approval of the NATO membership for Sweden and raised alarm over Türkiye's past standoffs with Greece.
According to diplomatic sources, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Blinken discussed the relations between the two countries comprehensively during the meeting. On Sweden’s NATO bid, Fidan told Blinken that the Turkish Parliament will issue the final decision on the Nordic country's accession to the military alliance.
Despite a recent thaw in relations with Türkiye, Greece is still keen to purchase advanced F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., as affirmed by the country's foreign minister on Saturday. Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis spoke highly of Greece's relations with Türkiye in an interview with broadcaster SKAI, but insisted on upgrading the country's military by purchasing F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., whom he described as a major player in the region and "superpower."
Gerapetritis praised the level of relations with Washington in recent years, saying: "We don't do transactional politics, we do an international policy of principles, and everybody respects that, and the big players, the United States, which is obviously a superpower, realizes who the credible regional player is.
"They (F-35s) would significantly upgrade the country's defense. We will discuss this issue (during Blinken's visit). I believe there will be positive developments."
When asked about the state of the relations with Türkiye, Gerapetritis said they are excellent and based on mutual understanding between the two NATO allies. "I want to emphasize that it is very important that we have now reached a level of discussion and understanding so that we can manage tensions without causing crises," he said.
More specifically, Gerapetritis argued that the thawing of bilateral relations is already yielding positive results from the Greek side, as these are no longer limited to dealing with irregular migration and human trafficking issues. The minister also underscored that Athens intends to take the issue of maritime border delimitation with Türkiye to an international court, such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague or the Special Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. However, the top diplomat said: "At this stage, we have not discussed this issue. It is an issue that will come up in the future. What we have said is that we are going step by step. We are never going to take leaps."
On Dec. 7, 2023, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid a landmark visit to Greece after the two neighboring countries experienced a tumultuous relationship in recent years. Erdoğan said in a news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens that there is no issue between Türkiye and Greece that cannot be resolved and that they want to "turn the Aegean into a sea of peace and cooperation."
Türkiye and Greece announced the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness, in which they stressed that they are committed to fostering friendly relations, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and understanding and seeking resolution to any dispute between in line with international law.
Blinken, on a new tour of the Middle East, met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Crete on Saturday, a few hours after a long meeting in Istanbul with Erdoğan. Greece remains hopeful about further positive steps in the defense cooperation with the U.S., according to a statement issued by the Greek Prime Minister's Office following the meeting. During the meeting at Mitsotakis' house in the Crete city of Chania, the parties discussed the overall state of excellent relations, the statement said, adding: "There will be further positive steps in the field of defense cooperation in the coming period."
Fidan and Blinken also discussed the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, with Fidan drawing attention to the increasing aggression of Israel as a threat to the entire region. During their talks, the Turkish foreign minister stressed the need for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and continued delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged region. He also called for the start of negotiations for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict as soon as possible.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.
Fidan also underlined Türkiye's desire to avoid tensions in the Black Sea. He addressed Türkiye's efforts to ensure the safe delivery of food products produced in Russia and Ukraine to world markets. Last July, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its own fertilizer before returning to the deal. The agreement, initially signed in July in 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the U.N., Russia and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the war, which began in February 2022. Türkiye, internationally praised for its unique mediator role between Ukraine and Russia, has time and again called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the fighting through negotiations. Erdoğan has repeatedly stressed his wish to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy together in Türkiye for formal discussions to end the conflict.
Also, Fidan and Blinken discussed negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as regional issues such as Syria and Iraq. Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions. Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization. In September, the Azerbaijani army initiated a counterterrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order in the region, after which illegal separatist forces surrendered. It put an end to more than 30 years of Armenian occupation of the region. In December, the two countries traded prisoners of war at their border following a landmark joint statement.
