London, 22 June 2023 (TDI): US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken meets with Turkiye Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in London while attending the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC). Both leaders express their gratitude and acknowledgment of each other as allies and for having strong bilateral ties.
Secretary Blinken also discusses Sweden’s NATO joining with the Turkish foreign minister, whose country is already a part of the organization.
Sweden had been carrying out a neutral stance since both world wars and ever since and did not join NATO. Now both Finland and Sweden have been pushing to join NATO, with whom there have been many joint military exercises and training. Finland joined nato this year in April 2023.
Ankara has not been as welcoming to Sweden, whom they accuse of supporting Kurdish groups, which Turkey regards as terrorists, and after a recent burning of the Quran near the Turkish embassy in Sweden.
Since the Ukraine war, the US has been searching for allies against Russia and Sweden has been a perfect ally since. The US secretary for defense, along with other high-ranking officials, had met with their Swedish counterparts in order to expand the military bloc in April.
Coincidentally this visit was at the time when Sweden was hosting its biggest training expedition to date, known as Aurora 23.
A NATO alliance will help bolster these relations and securitize Europe and especially Ukraine, against Russia, which is why the US has been so adamant about Sweden joining the organization.
This meeting is a milestone in that direction, promising a hopeful future for Stockholm’s wishes to join NATO.
Turkiye and US relations
Usa and Turkiye have been allies since the ottoman empire- countries consider each other as important security partners. It is a key regional partner to the US in the euro-Asian region. They have shared bilateral economic relations since the start, such as the Economic and technical cooperation agreement of 1947.
