The plane carrying US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken landed a few minutes before midnight yesterday Sunday (local time) in Ankara (file photo, top, by Eurokinissi/Mihalis Karagiannis).
The main topic of the talks with the Turkish officials is expected to be the developments in Gaza
The head of American diplomacy was welcomed at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport by US Ambassador to Turkey Jeffrey Flake, the Director General of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for bilateral political affairs with the US Ambassador Yaprak Balkan and other officials.
Mr. Blinken will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday. The main topic of their talks is expected to be the developments in Gaza.
Visit to Cyprus
Earlier yesterday, Sunday, he was in Cyprus, as part of his trip to the Middle East, in a visit with special symbolic importance for Nicosia.
His plane landed at the old airport of Larnaca – according to the Cypriot media – and the US Secretary of State had a brief meeting with the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulidis.
At the center of the discussion is the war in the Middle East, the conditions it creates in the region and Nicosia’s initiative to create a maritime humanitarian corridor to Gaza.
According to information from in, the Cyprus issue was also discussed, as well as the evacuation of citizens, with special thanks from Blinken to Christodoulidis for Nicosia’s stance.
The meeting lasted 20 minutes, but the fact that the American Foreign Minister chose to land in Cyprus acquires special value.
