Turkish parliament official holds talks in US

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Fuat Oktay, chair of the Turkish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has held talks with officials at the US Congress in Washington.

Oktay met House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and Congressman Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues, including Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Ukraine war.

"We agreed to establish a mechanism between the Turkish Grand National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee and the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee that will include cooperation and mutual visits," Oktay said on X.

Separately, Oktay met Senator Chris Murphy, Congressman Tom Kean, and Rep. Mike Quigley.

On the second day of his visit, Oktay met Congressman Pete Sessions, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, Rep. Ryan Zinke, Congressman Brendan Boyle, Rep. John Garamendi, Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, and Rep. Joe Wilson.

"During our meetings, we evaluated issues such as Gaza, Syria, the Ukraine-Russia war, energy security, the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus, the development of bilateral economic relations and trade, CAATSA sanctions, the rapid progress of the F-16 (fighter jets sale) process and the fight against terrorism," Oktay said on X.

He said they agreed to engage in close and regular consultation to support the work on these issues through parliamentary diplomacy.

The former vice president of Türkiye also received James O’Brien, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, to receive information from him about the US government's position on bilateral issues.