US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Ankara was planned even before the earthquakes in Türkiye, the talks will take place on February 20, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a press conference after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Report informs referring to TASS.
“The visit itself was planned even before the earthquakes. As planned, Blinken will arrive in the disaster region on February 19, and on February 20 we will hold talks with him. During the meeting, we will definitely discuss the process of Sweden and Finland joining NATO,” Cavusoglu said. The parties also intend to discuss the situation around the conflict in Ukraine.
According to the US State Department, Blinken will pay official visits to Germany, Türkiye and Greece from February 16 to 22. In Germany, he will visit the Munich Security Conference, where he will take part in a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings to discuss further support for Ukraine, assistance to Türkiye and Syria.
On February 19, the secretary of state will visit the Incirlik Air Base in Türkiye, where he will oversee the provision of US assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake. Then he will head to Ankara, where he will meet with Cavusoglu and other officials of the country to discuss further assistance to Türkiye and cooperation within NATO.