US President Joe Biden is looking forward to reviewing the “full breadth” of US-Turkish ties when he meets his Turkish counterpart later this month, a top official said on Monday.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the meeting, planned to be held on the sidelines of the June 14 NATO summit in Brussels, presents “a business-like opportunity to review” bilateral ties, saying Biden and Erdogan “are both looking forward to the opportunity.”
US President Joe Biden is looking forward to reviewing the "full breadth" of US-Turkish ties when he meets his Turkish counterpart later this month, said a top official pic.twitter.com/HPEjKF0Btw
— GM (@GhulamNabiMadni) June 7, 2021
“And President Biden knows Erdogan very well,” said Sullivan during a White House press conference.
The leaders will address the situations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Iran, Nagorno-Karabakh, and “the role that Turkey will play on a going forward basis with respect to negotiations and diplomacy in Afghanistan,” Sullivan said.
Read more: US, other powers fear Turkey’s regional rise
They will also address “how the US and Turkey itself deal with some of our significant differences on values, and human rights, and other issues,” he added.
Biden losing a precious friend
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week warned that the United States risked “losing a precious friend” if it tries to corner his country, speaking two weeks before his first meeting with US counterpart Joe Biden.
Already tense, relations between the two NATO states have further deteriorated since Biden replaced Erdogan’s ally Donald Trump in January, with the new president making a point of highlighting Turkey’s dire human rights record.
When asked about Ankara-Washington relations, Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish state broadcaster TRT on Tuesday that “those who corner the Republic of Turkey will lose a precious friend”.
Read more: Turkey slams US for calling Israeli attacks self-defense
Erdogan’s combative stance comes ahead of the first meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels on June 14.
Biden was in no rush to speak with the Turkish leader after taking office, waiting three months before calling Erdogan in April.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk