US Secretary of State urges Türkiye to quickly ratify NATO's admission of Sweden

This is the US Secretary of State's fourth visit to the Middle East in the past three months, amid tense developments in many places outside Gaza, including Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq.

There, he met with host President Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Ankara and other countries can do to increase their influence to ease tensions, step up aid deliveries to Gaza, and begin planning for reconstruction and post-conflict governance in Gaza.

Meanwhile, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, during the two-hour meeting, the two foreign ministers exchanged views on the current conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Türkiye's progress in ratifying Sweden as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Washington is disappointed by the lengthy ratification process in Turkey, but is confident Ankara will soon approve Sweden’s NATO membership after the Turkish parliament approved it last month, according to a senior State Department official accompanying Blinken on the trip, who spoke on condition of anonymity. US lawmakers have delayed approval of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until it ratifies Sweden as a member of NATO.

According to the plan, on January 6, Secretary of State Blinken will travel to the Greek island of Crete to meet with the host country's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Athens is currently waiting for the US Congress to approve the sale of F-35 fighter jets to this country. Speaking on Skai Television, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said the two sides plan to discuss the issue and he hopes to make positive progress.

The US diplomat is then scheduled to visit five Arab countries including Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt, before going to Israel and the West Bank, to seek ways to prevent the situation in the region from escalating and promote humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip as well as better protect civilians.