Ankara mood of dejection after FM’s US visit

The mood in Ankara was not a bright one in the aftermath of the meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Washington, as it did not produce the results it anticipated, at least based on what is being discussed publicly. 

The Turkish delegation failed to get even a possible date for the purchase and modernization of the F-16 fighter jets.

According to reports, the Turks were already aware of the negative climate during the meeting between Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal and his American counterpart Victoria Nuland. Although the United States government said it has no objections to the F-16 issue, Turkey’s objections to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership and differences on Syria are not helping to change the mood in Congress vis-a-vis Ankara and the F-16s.

Meanwhile, Athens does not see any plans by Turkey to create an intense escalation at this moment in time, according to senior diplomatic sources, who, however, are not ruling out any accidental event. 

In Athens, the meeting of the US-Turkish delegations at the State Department is not seen through a dramatic lens as far as Greek-Turkish relations are concerned. On the contrary, it is quite clear that the engagement was mainly linked to the issue of Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership. 

The same senior diplomatic sources confirmed Blinken’s visit to Athens on February 21, The same senior diplomatic sources confirmed Blinken’s visit to Athens on February 21, when the fourth Strategic Dialogue and a meeting of the 3+1 regional alliance scheme (Greece, Israel, Cyprus and the US) will take place. 

They also noted that a visit by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Athens is expected in the coming period, while adding that Greece and Egypt will respond to the joint Turkish-Libyan letter to the United Nations on Greek exploratory activities in the Eastern Mediterranean in the same way.