On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will undertake tough discussions in Turkey with the goal of calming the ire of one of Washington’s most important but challenging partners regarding the violence in Gaza.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s palace in Turkey and the streets of Turkey are roiling with anger at both Israel and the West during Blinken’s first visit since Israel went to war with Hamas in retaliation for the militants’ October 7 attack.
Just hours before Blinken’s arrival on Sunday, hundreds of protesters marched on an air facility in southeast Turkey that houses US military. Police deployed tear gas and water cannon to scatter the demonstrators.
Erdogan himself plans to travel across Turkey’s remote northeast Monday in a seeming snub of Washington’s top diplomat.
Blinken’s talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan were set to be packed with problems even before Israel launched a relentless bombing and expanding ground campaign aimed at eradicating Hamas.
The Hamas-run health ministry said at least 9,770 people had been killed in more than four weeks of war in Gaza.
Following the bloodiest attack in Israel’s history, in which the extremists captured over 240 hostages and killed over 1,400 people, the operation got underway.
Washington’s relations with Turkey, a NATO member with a strong foreign policy and interests in several Middle Eastern issues, might be significantly impacted by the war.
