Turkish, US officials to hold consultations in Washington as part of ‘Strategic Mechanism’

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish and US officials will hold consultations in Washington on Thursday, as part of the Türkiye-US Strategic Mechanism, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Türkiye’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal will meet his US counterpart Wendy Sherman, and Victoria Nuland, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, as part of the Türkiye-US Strategic Mechanism, said a ministry statement.

Bilateral relations as well as regional issues and international developments will be discussed during the consultations, the statement added.

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

During the April 4 visit of Nuland to Ankara, the Turkiye-US Strategic 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 of the Turkiye-US Strategic Mechanism “to reaffirm their strong cooperation as partners and NATO Allies,” according to a joint statement from Türkiye and US.

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