In the midst of heightened tensions caused by Israel's attacks on Gaza, neighbouring Lebanon, and other locations, top US diplomat Antony Blinken landed in Istanbul to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, as part of his Middle East and Europe tour.
Blinken and his delegation's plane touched down at Istanbul Airport at 19:10 local time (4:10 p.m. GMT) yesterday January 5.
A group of Turkish diplomats and U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Jeffry L. Flake greeted Blinken at the airport.
Today in Istanbul, Fidan and his American colleague are slated to have conversations about regional challenges, bilateral relations, NATO membership for Sweden, Israeli attacks on Gaza, and other topics.
A State Department spokesperson informed reporters on Thursday that Blinken will also visit many other countries between January 4 and 11, including Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt./BGNES
