The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu described his meeting on Wednesday with his US counterpart as «extremely positive», Anthony Blinken in New York, while Ankara threatens to block the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
«I can say that we had an extremely positive meeting,» the Turkish diplomatic chief told reporters after the meeting with his US counterpart.
The meeting between Cavusoglu and Blinken took place in the framework of the «US-Turkey Strategic Mechanism», aimed at improving relations between the two countries, which have been characterised by intense tensions in recent years.
Ankara's threat to block Sweden and Finland's NATO membership was also on the agenda.
«Blinken assured that the United States will send the necessary messages to eliminate Turkey's concerns» on this issue, Cavusoglu said.
Turkey accuses the two Scandinavian countries of showing leniency towards the Kurdish rebels of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), which it considers a terrorist organisation.
«It is unacceptable for allies or those who want to join the alliance to support terrorist organizations that target us,» Cavusoglu reacted.
«It is also unacceptable to impose restrictions on the sale of arms to an ally,» he added.
The United States is «confident that Sweden and Finland will have an effective (NATO) accession process and that Turkey's concerns can be addressed,» the White House said earlier today.
The Turkish diplomatic chief also said he was optimistic about the development of the file on the export of US F-16 fighter jets requested by Turkey.
«The technical talks between the military are progressing very positively. There are also positive signals from Congress,» he said, referring to the agreement to be reached by the US Congress on these exports.
