U.S. And Türkiye Aim For Peace In South Caucasus

The U.S. and Türkiye on Wednesday decided to 'increase coordination and cooperation' to advance peace in the South Caucasus, both governments said in a Joint Statement after their top diplomats' meeting in Washington, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu held the 4th meeting of the U.S.-Türkiye Strategic Mechanism at the State Department.

The two sides conducted an extensive dialogue on a broad range of areas of bilateral cooperation and emphasized the significance of our partnership as NATO Allies, according to the joint statement.

Blinken and Çavuşoğlu reiterated their commitment to a "concrete and results-oriented positive bilateral agenda." They discussed strengthening the U.S.-Türkiye defense partnership, including modernization of Türkiye’s F-16 fleet.

Washington and Anlara also underlined their unequivocal support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russia’s unacceptable war and reaffirmed their support to find a solution to end the war. 

Per the joint statement, Blinken and Çavuşoğlu also discussed ways to bolster NATO coordination and solidarity in the face of current threats and challenges.

"They reaffirmed their long-standing commitment to collective defense as Allies, as well as to NATO’s Open Door Policy.  They discussed the implementation of the trilateral memorandum signed by Finland, Sweden, and Türkiye to advance Finland and Sweden’s application to join the NATO Alliance"

Blinken and Çavuşoğlu decided to continue their engagement under the auspices of the Strategic Mechanism to review progress and maintain momentum in their positive bilateral agenda.

"The two sides welcome increased bilateral meetings, including at the highest level, under the Strategic Mechanism," they said.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.