Confusion has prevailed in the last 24 hours regarding the “imminent” visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Washington, in order to meet with US President Joe Biden, with the main topic being the situation in the Middle East.
The scheduled appointment of the two presidents on White House had been “locked” for May 9, nevertheless, a section of the press now leaves open the possibility that this meeting will not take place, without however having made known the reason for the postponement.
Today’s Bloomberg report restores the date of May 9, stressing that the four-fourth is expected to take place normally, but at the same time the representative of the National Security of the White House, John Kirby – in his statements to journalists – emphasizes that in the program of the American president there is no planned visit of his Turkish counterpart.
In particular, interviewed by journalists o John Kirby, on whether Erdogan’s meeting with Haniyeh will be an issue in the meeting with Biden or jeopardize the Turkish president’s visit, replied: “There is nothing on the schedule to talk about in terms of a specific visit by President Erdogan. So, I have no comment on that.”
Asked about “who hosts the leader of Hamas,” Kirby said: “Again, I’ll let President Erdogan speak in the meetings he has. We have been very clear about our position on Hamas and who they are and what they stand for. I’ll leave it at that.”
What the Turkish media are reporting
Two days after Odatv’s report, and with no other Turkish media having picked up on the issue, CNN Turk’s Washington correspondent said after an exchange of messages: “There’s nothing official yet, but it’s going to be canceled.” .
Following this, came the first reaction from the US side, specifically the US embassy in Ankara, which said “if Erdoğan’s visit to Washington has been cancelled”. “At this time there is no announcement regarding the visit to the White House. There is no change in our plans for high-level contacts at every opportunity,” the US embassy replied, and recommended for answers about “the travels of Turkish officials.”
After these reactions, the journalist Abdulkadir Selvi writes in his extensive article in the pro-government newspaper Hurriyet, that there was no confirmation or denial regarding the news (including the cancellation of the trip) and that the preparations are continuing normally. “There has been no information from the US about the cancellation of President Erdogan’s visit to the US. There is no reason to cancel the visit on USA.
They are making regular preparations for the Biden-Erdogan meeting that will take place on May 9,” says the Turkish journalist. Citing his own Turkish sources on the other hand, he emphasizes that “no order at all has been sent to the relevant agencies by President Erdogan to cancel the trip to the USA”.
The opposition Cumhuriyet, for its part, refers to behind-the-scenes information according to which Washington warned Ankara that if it hosts Hamas, in the event that Qatar removes the Palestinian organization from its territory, then there will be consequences, including the cancellation of Erdoğan’s visit.
