President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday (July 11) that Turkey will block any attempts at cooperation between NATO and Israel until peace is reached on Palestinian territories, Reuters reports.
"Until a comprehensive and sustainable peace is established on Palestinian soil, attempts at cooperation between Israel and NATO will not be approved by Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C.
Erdogan also said that he had instructed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet with his Syrian counterparts to set up a meeting between Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in order to overcome the issues between the neighbouring countries. Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported rebels looking to oust Assad.
Erdogan also said he spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden about F-16 jet sales to Turkey, adding that Biden promised to "solve this problem in 3-4 weeks".
In March, the U.S. Senate defeated an effort to stop a $23 billion sale of F-16 jets and modernisation kits to Turkey allowed by President Joe Biden's administration after Turkey approved Sweden joining the NATO alliance.
