Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting to discuss strengthening Türkiye-U.S. relations in New York on Friday.
The two top diplomats met at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York City, where Fidan met several other counterparts on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The meeting took 45 minutes, according to diplomatic sources, who noted that they exchanged views on which concrete and constructive steps should be taken in the near future to further enhance bilateral relations.
They also touched upon the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Sweden's NATO membership and the latest developments in Karabakh, the sources added.
On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye and the U.S. would boost cooperation in anti-terror fight.
Türkiye and the U.S., two major allies, maintained warm ties for decades, but shifting foreign policies and international developments at times affected the relations. The most outstanding issue between the two countries nowadays appears to be blatant U.S. support for terrorist groups threatening Türkiye, including the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ), whose leader resides in Pennsylvania, and the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian wing, the YPG, which is supported by Washington under the pretext of a fight against Daesh. Türkiye was also disappointed at what it perceives as an attempt to link the sales of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye to the expected Turkish ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
Erdoğan, who last met U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this month in New Delhi, where they both attended a G-20 summit, said they agreed upon strengthening Turkish-U.S. friendship and cooperation.
