Erdoğan, Blinken discuss Israel-Gaza war and Sweden's NATO bid during Istanbul meeting

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a closed-door meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Istanbul on Saturday, with the Israel-Gaza war in Gaza and Sweden's NATO bid top of the agenda.

In addition to Gaza, the two discussed final steps to complete Ankara's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership bid, as well as an anticipated US sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye.

Erdoğan had already made the US jet sale a condition for the Turkish parliament to proceed to a full vote on Sweden's NATO bid.



Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, a decision affected by Russia's war on Ukraine, and hoped to join later that summer.

However, Türkiye accused Sweden of lacking commitment in dealing with "terrorist organizations" such as the bloody-minded PKK terror group and refused to give its consent. New members of the defence alliance must be unanimously approved by current members.

After Sweden made concessions, Erdoğan recently announced that he would allow ratification by the Turkish parliament. At the same time, however, he wants the US Congress to give its approval for the delivery of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

There were initially no further details available regarding the closed-door meeting, which was also attended by Türkiye's intelligence chief and the US ambassador to Ankara.



Erdoğan is a harsh critic of Israel's genocide-level attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Saturday, Blinken also met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the "humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Fidan's office said on social media platform X.

Blinken next heads on to the Middle East, his fourth tour to the region in three months. He is expected to make stops in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia as well as Israel, the West Bank and Egypt.

During the tour, Blinken seeks to discuss concrete steps on how actors in the region could use their influence to avoid an escalation of the Gaza war, his office said.

Washington also wants to ensure increased humanitarian aid enters Gaza and Hamas fighters free the remaining hostages they hold.