Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to the United States on May 9, for the first time as an official guest of President Joe Biden, Turkish media reported on Tuesday, without citing official sources.
No official announcements were made about an upcoming visit.
According to Turkish media reports, several important issues are expected to be addressed during the meeting between the two heads of state at the White House.
If the reports prove true, Erdoğan and Biden, who have already held talks at international summits, will meet for the first time in the Oval Office.
Their last meeting took place in July during the NATO summit in Lithuania.
The reported visit will follow Turkey’s recent approval of Sweden’s NATO membership, a move that has warmed relations between the US and Turkey, after a long period of strained ties between the two countries over a host of issues.
İbrahim Kalın, the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan recently visited the US for talks with the US administration.
On the agenda of the meeting are topics such as the fight against terrorism, the current situation in Gaza and cooperation in the defense sector.
President Erdoğan is expected to reiterate Turkey’s stance on the need for a permanent cessation of Israeli military actions in Gaza and to advocate for a two-state solution during his face-to-face meeting with President Biden.
Accelerating the procurement and modernization of F-16 fighter jets will also be addressed.
Another topic of discussion will be Turkey’s long-standing reservations about the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and its unease with US support for the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
