Washington, February 15 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Germany on Thursday to attend the Munich Security Conference and then to Turkey, where he will meet officials from that country.
Alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, the diplomat will emphasize support for Ukraine as a priority at the Munich conference, where world leaders and authorities on defense and security issues meet every year , the State Department said in a statement.
As part of the conference, Blinken will meet with government officials from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Deputy Secretary of State Karen Donfried announced at a press conference and added that ‘also in Germany, the diplomat will take part in a meeting of the G7.
On Sunday, Blinken will fly to Turkey, where he will visit Incirlik Air Base in the south of the country, where the United States has sent support personnel and at least one military aircraft to help with earthquake recovery. of land that hit the country on 6 February. .
After that, the American diplomat will travel to Ankara, where he will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and other government officials of this country “to discuss support for Turkey after the earthquakes (… ) and how to strengthen the alliance” between the two governments.
Blinken currently has no plans to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Donfried said in a conference call with reporters.
The Secretary of State’s trip to Turkey will come days after Blinken asked the UN to demand that the Syrian government honor its commitment to open two border crossings with Turkey for the entry of aid. humanitarian.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad on Monday authorized the use of the Bab al Salam and Al Rai crossings, both on the Turkish divide, to deliver UN aid for three months in the opposition areas in the northwest of the country, surrounded by the territory. in the hands of rival players who are difficult to access.
Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, measuring 7.7 and 7.6 respectively on the Richter scale, occurred on February 6 and the official death toll exceeds 35,000 in both countries, a figure that is expected continue to increase.