Turkish, US officials agree on importance of dialogue on regional disputes

WASHINGTON (AA) – Senior Turkish and US officials met Thursday in Washington to discuss a range of issues, including cooperation and NATO.

“Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl met with Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedat Onal to discuss shared interests in improving regional stability, continuing defense cooperation, and strengthening NATO,” Pentagon spokesman David Herndon said in a statement. “Under Secretary Kahl and Deputy Minister Onal agreed on the importance of dialogue to resolve regional disputes.”

Onal is in the US capital as part of the Türkiye-US Strategic Mechanism.

He is expected to meet his US counterpart, Wendy Sherman, and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, met Oct. 31, 2021, in Rome and agreed to establish a strategic mechanism that promotes high-level dialogue and address issues where Turkiye and the US do not fully agree, along with issues they are working on.

During an April 4 visit by Nuland to Ankara, the mechanism was launched.

On May, 18, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, met in New York for the first meeting “to reaffirm their strong cooperation as partners and NATO Allies,” according to a statement from Türkiye and US.

Türkiye-US relations have been strained in recent years due to Washington’s cooperation with the PYD-YPG/PKK terror organization in Syria, its stance on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), disagreements concerning Turkiye’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system and sanctions against Turkiye.