US-Turkey Ties Brighten as Path Opens to Approve F-16 Deal

LOCAL NEWS

• Biden administration reportedly asks Congress to OK its F-16 arms deal with Turkey for 40 jets and 80 modernisation kits worth $6bn in an important step forward for US-Turkey relations. Last week various senators said the deal was in US interests – Sabah
• Cavusoglu set to meet Blinken on 18 May in the US to discuss the strategic mechanism to expand bilateral cooperation and conflict resolution between the US & Turkey. – Sabah
• Fourth drillship expected to arrive in Turkey as soon as next week (19 May) according to international shipping data and will start East Med exploration in the summer.
  • Turkey continues to explore the Sakarya gas fields said to hold enough reserves to meet household demand for 30 years. Ankara aims to start pumping into its grid from 2023 with sustained plateau production starting in 2027 or 2028 – Sabah
• Turkey is preparing for two important diplomatic attempts ‘in the coming days’; First is on relations with Egypt and the other is on the Russia-Ukraine crisis with the humanitarian contact group expected to meet soon.
  • While it is expected that contacts with Egypt will be brought to the level of foreign ministers, technical meetings are planned between UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine within the framework of back-door diplomacy. – Hurriyet

Data/Events

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