LAST UPDATE: 18.54
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is postponing his visit to the United States, which was scheduled for May 9, a reporter from the Bloomberg agency, which covers the White House, reported on Friday evening Greek time, via the social networking platform X ( formerly Twitter). The news was confirmed a little later to Reuters by a Turkish government official, who wished to remain anonymous.
It is noted that American and Turkish officials in March had stated that the two leaders would meet on May 9 at the White House.
Turkish government sources are citing changes in the Turkish president’s schedule, adding that a new date for the visit is to be determined soon.
An American source, speaking to the Reuters agency, noted that the reason for the postponement of the visit has not been made clear.
Earlier in the day, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told accredited reporters that there was no planned visit by the Turkish president.
Erdogan’s visit to Washington was scheduled to take place as the Israel-Hamas war continues in Gaza and after Iran and Israel attacked each other’s territory, raising fears that a wider Middle East conflict may be looming.
The two leaders were also to meet at a critical moment in their political careers. Biden faces a rematch with his 2020 opponent, former US President Donald Trump, in the November election. A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll this week showed Biden leading in just one of the seven states most likely to decide the outcome.
Late last month, Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2003 as prime minister and since 2014 as president, suffered an embarrassing defeat in municipal elections, with voters across the nation turning against his Islamist-conservative AKP party .
As Bloomberg noted earlier, although parallels cannot be drawn easily, in both countries inflation has contributed to a sense of frustration and anger at the governments in power.
Last weekend, Erdogan met with the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, to discuss a possible permanent ceasefire and the acceleration of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Unlike the US and the European Union, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
