US State Secy Blinken begins his trip to Middle East, Europe; meets Turkey's Erdogan

Ankara: As the Israel-Hamas war entered day 92, the US Secretary of State also began his latest trip to the Middle East and Europe, to amp up the diplomatic efforts, preventing an expansion of the conflict, Voice of America reported.

Beginning a week-long tour across the Middle East, Blinken met with top Turkish officials in Istanbul, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This week-long journey is his fourth to the Middle East since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7.

It will also take him to Israel, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Preventing the Gaza conflict from spreading to the West Bank, Lebanon, and the trade channels of the Red Sea will be the main objective of the tour, VOA reported.

Blinken, in his meeting with Erdogan said that he "emphasised the need to prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, expand humanitarian assistance and reduce civilian casualties," according to US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller on Saturday.

During his trip, Blinken will also reiterate requests for more humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Blinken also met Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan and discussed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Fidan mentioned Israel's increasing hostility to Blinken during their talk, claiming it is a menace to the entire area. According to the ministry, he also emphasised the need for an instant truce in Gaza to enable the ongoing delivery of aid and the urgency of getting back to the two-state solution talks as soon as possible, Al Jazeera reported.

Prior to the current conflict, the US and Turkey had a tense relationship characterised by disagreements over foreign policy matters ranging from NATO to Iraq.

The US Congress's protracted approval of a USD20 billion agreement for 40 F-16 fighter fighters has angered Ankara. Turkey's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership application is awaited by Washington, reported Al Jazeera.

On Saturday, the US State Secretary and the Turkish Foreign Minister addressed Ankara's process to ratify Sweden's NATO membership, according to a Turkish foreign ministry statement.

Blinken then went to the island of Crete on Saturday as part of his whistlestop tour of numerous nations to see Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Greece, a fellow member of NATO, is awaiting approval from the US Congress to sell F-35 fighter fighters.