The United States will support Turkey "for as long as it takes" after its devastating earthquakes, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday (February 20), while his Turkish counterpart said there was no need to wait for a disaster to improve ties, Reuters reports.
Blinken was speaking after his visit on Sunday to the quake zone, where rescue work was winding down two weeks after the worst disaster in the country's modern history. The earthquakes killed more than 46,000 people in Turkey and northwest Syria.
Total U.S. humanitarian assistance to support the earthquake response in Turkey and Syria has reached $185 million, the U.S. State Department has said.
Çavuşoğlu told reporters he had discussed a planned $20 billion deal for U.S. F-16 warplanes with Blinken, and said that Turkey would like the U.S. administration to send the formal notification for the F-16s to Congress.
He added that Ankara expected support from Congress to push through the deal.
Blinken said Washington strongly supports Sweden and Finland's quick NATO accession given the steps they have already taken, even as his Turkish counterpart stressed the need for more concrete steps.
Çavuşoğlu, alongside Blinken, said all parties in the alliance must convince Sweden in particular to take more action to address Ankara's concerns and win its support for the bid.
Çavuşoğlu said it was not possible for Turkey to purchase F-16 warplanes with pre-conditions and that he believed the issue can be overcome if the U.S. administration maintains a decisive stance.
During the news conference, Çavuşoğlu also said that Turkey is not selling products that could be used in Russia's war effort, after U.S. warnings earlier this month about exports of chemicals, microchips, and other products.
Çavuşoğlu added Turkey will not allow U.S. and European sanctions to be violated in or via Turkey, and Ankara is taking steps to prevent it.
A top U.S. Treasury official visited Turkish government and private sector officials earlier this month to urge more cooperation in disrupting the flow of goods that can be used by Moscow's defense industries.
Relations between the NATO allies have been strained since 2019 when Ankara acquired Russian missile defense systems, among other sources of tension between them.
