Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Photo- AP
Ankara: Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said urged the US to lift sanctions against Ankara in the defence industry field.
In a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Washington to lift sanctions and finalise the F-16 fighter jet sale deal.
According to reports, Cavusoglu told the media that he discussed a planned $20 billion deal for US F-16 warplanes with Blinken. Turkey would like the US administration to send the formal notification for the F-16s to Congress, he said.
Cavusoglu said finalising the F-16 fighter jet sale deal is beneficial for both sides and added that Ankara expected support from Congress to push through the deal.
Talking about bilateral ties, Cavusoglu said the two countries should not wait for another disaster to improve ties but take concrete steps to improve relations between Turkey and the US.
Blinken assured his country’s commitment to providing support to earthquake-hit Turkey.
Responding on the F-16 deal, Blinken said it is the “national interest and security interest” for the Biden administration to both upgrade existing F-16s and provide new ones to Turkey.
Blinken also said the U.S. government had responded “within hours” to the disaster and had so far sent hundreds of personnel and relief supplies. But he said that ordinary Americans had also responded to “heartbreaking” images from the quake zone.
“We have nearly $80 million in donations from the private sector in the United States, (from) individuals. When I visited the Turkish Embassy in Washington, I almost couldn’t get in the front door because boxes were piled high throughout the driveway to the embassy,” Blinken said.
With inputs from agencies.
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