The joint announcement following the Blinken and Fidan meeting: The reference to Greek-Turkish

A reference to Greek-Turkish and developments in the Eastern Mediterranean is made to the public announcement after his meeting with . and in the statement published it is underlined that “they discussed the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and stressed the importance of maintaining stability and communication channels”. The text states that the American Minister “explained his satisfaction with the continuing commitment between Turkey and Greece, including the Fifth High Level Cooperation Council in December 2023 in Athens and the signing of a Turkish Declaration— Greece for Friendly Relations and Good Neighborhood”. The two ministers also announced that the US-Turkey defence trade dialogue will take place within 2024 and both countries will seek opportunities to promote the cooperation of defence industries. The text states that, at the Blinken-Fintan meeting in Washington, the opportunities for the transformation of US and Turkey relations in the field of security and defence were discussed in order to make use of each country’s important potential and innovation to address strategic challenges and opportunities. In the general context of the Washington meeting it is said that the two ministers “repeat their commitment to a results-oriented, headstrong, positive bilateral agenda that promotes common goals and faces emerging global challenges. They discussed strengthening the US-Turkey relationship on a wide range of issues, including regional priorities, combating terrorism, defence cooperation, economic development, trade, energy security and climate change.” Blinken and Fintan “repeated the support of the United States and Turkey to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity over Russia’s unacceptable war”, with the United States expressing their satisfaction with Turkey’s efforts in the Black Sea, including the recently announced working group on dealing with mines and facilitating vital safe routes for cereals and international trade. On the Gaza war, the text of the statement states that the leaders of American and Turkish diplomacy stressed the importance of finding “a way to end the conflict” and addressing the humanitarian crisis immediately. They also reaffirmed their commitment to a sustainable solution of two states. With regard to the ‘hot’ issue of Turkey, the United States and Turkey have come back to consultations on combating terrorism “during the Strategic Mechanism to expand cooperation against terrorism and address the relevant networks involved in organised crime and drug trafficking, as threats to their national security”. “The (ed. American) minister repeated the condemnation of the United States of the PKK terrorist organization, DHKP- C, as well as ISIS/DAESH targeting Turkey and Turkish interests” refers to the joint statement. “The United States and the Turkish Republic reiterated their joint commitment to ensure the complete defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS/DAESH) in Syria and Iraq and discussed cooperation to address the threat of ISIS/DAESH and its organisations branches, Al-Qaeda operating in Africa and Central Asia,” is added to the joint statement text. The two ministers also discussed “all aspects of the Syrian crisis and reiterated the commitment of the United States and Turkey to a political process under Syrian leadership and under Syrian responsibility, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.” They reiterated the importance of repatriating ISIS/DAESH detainees and displaced persons from north-eastern Syria to their countries of origin, where they can be restored and reinstated in their communities of origin and, where appropriate, brought to justice. As far as the South Caucasus, Blinken and Fintan are concerned, they have pledged to cooperate in promoting a balanced and lasting peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia and agreed that this will promote regional stability, cooperation and prosperity. The two ministers welcomed, finally, Sweden’s membership as the 32nd Ally in NATO, “which will strengthen the Alliance and Euro-Atlantic security”.