US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Jessica Lewis will travel to Turkey and Greece on 4-6 April, where she will meet with senior officials to “build on the recently established US-Turkey Strategic Dialogue Mechanism,” the State Department said on Thursday.
Lewis’ visit comes after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met at the State Department last month on the Turkey-US strategic dialogue mechanism.
According to a joint statement issued after three days of high-level discussions between senior Turkish and US officials at the State Department, Blinken and Fidan “reaffirmed their commitment to a results-oriented, forward-looking, positive bilateral agenda that promotes common goals and addresses emerging global challenges.”
Regional priorities, counter-terrorism, defence cooperation, economic growth, trade and energy security were among a wide range of issues.
Tensions between Ankara and Washington have risen in recent years over a number of disagreements, including US support for the YPG in Syria, which Ankara sees as an extension of the PKK terrorist group, and Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system, which led to Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 programme and Washington’s sanctions against Ankara.
The US Congress’ approval of the long-delayed sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey in February, which came shortly after the Turkish parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership, was seen as a positive development by both sides, as the two NATO allies expressed a desire for a “results-oriented, forward-looking and positive bilateral agenda.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the recent moves between Turkey and the US “some positive developments.”
Assistant Secretary Lewis will be in Athens from April 6 to 9 to consult with senior representatives of the defence and foreign ministries on Greece’s military modernisation priorities, including the procurement of “US defence articles” and cooperation on security issues such as assistance to Ukraine, as well as maritime cooperation, the State Department said.
