A delegation from the United States House of Representatives will hold talks in Ankara on March 29, including Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and members of the Turkish parliament, a Turkish official has said, APA reports citing Hürriyet Daily News.
The delegation will be composed of four members of the House Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over defense policy, military operations, defense industry exports and other defense-related matters.
The U.S. team will be hosted by Defense Minister Güler in the Turkish capital, the Turkish official noted. Among the issues to be discussed between the two sides is counterterrorism cooperation between the two sides as Ankara insistently calls on Washington to cease its support to YPG in northern Syria as well as the need to increase bilateral dialogue in the field of defense industry.
Ties between Ankara and Washington have entered a new era after Türkiye’s approval of Sweden’s admission into NATO and the U.S. confirmation of the sale of 40 new F-16s to its NATO ally.
A recent meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers as part of the Strategic Mechanism has reiterated both sides’ willingness to further advance ties in economy, trade, investments and energy, etc.
According to the Turkish official, Güler will also discuss the military-to-military relationship between the two allies. Ankara has asked Washington to lift sanctions on Türkiye, which were imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) due to the deployment of Russian S-400 air defense systems on its soil. It also asks for reimbursement of the money it had paid for F-35 warfighters after it has been expelled from the project because of the S-400 supply from Russia.
The Turkish official informed that the U.S. delegation will also meet former Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, who is currently the head of the Defense Committee of the Turkish parliament.
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