Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden met with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a G20 summit on Indonesia's Bali island on Tuesday (November 15).
Agenda items for the NATO members could include extending a deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports to continue; Ankara's request for F-16 jets; NATO enlargement; and the weekend Istanbul bomb attack that Ankara blamed on Kurdish militants.
Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were responsible for the blast, an incident that recalled for Turks similar attacks in years past.
Ankara says the YPG is a wing of the PKK. The United States has supported the YPG in the conflict in Syria, stoking friction between NATO allies.
President Biden expressed his deep condolences to President Erdogan and the people of Turkey on the acts of violence in Istanbul and made clear "we stand with our NATO Ally", the White House reports.
President Biden expressed his appreciation to President Erdogan for his efforts to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which they both agreed has been critical to improving global food security amid the conflict in Ukraine and that the Initiative must continue. The two also discussed continued close coordination on NATO Alliance issues, and other issues of regional and global concern.
