Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu to visit US

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will commence a state visit to the U.S. to hold talks with his counterpart Antony Blinken today.

As the first senior ranking Turkish official to visit the country since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, Cavusoglu will be looking to improve diplomatic relations with the U.S. U.S.-Turkey bilateral relations have soured over recent years — disagreements between the two range from ratifying Sweden and Finland’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to reconciliation efforts with Syria and President Bashar al-Assad. Another point of contention between the NATO allies arises from the potential sale of 40 Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighters which is unlikely to be approved by the U.S. Congress.

While Cavusoglu’s visit is a step in the right direction to improve ties, expect no major breakthroughs yet with standard statements about working towards a closer operating relationship. With Turkey expected to hold parliamentary elections later this year, the Biden administration will likely hold off on any major diplomatic decisions until after the election results are declared. Further, expect no changes to occur in ongoing collaborations to counter financial networks linked to terrorist outfits in Iraq and Syria.