Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan Before Their Meeting – United States Department of State

FOREIGN MINISTER FIDAN:  (Via interpreter) Distinguished members of the press, today we are hosting the U.S. Secretary of State, my counterpart, Secretary Antony Blinken, in Ankara.  And I’m very pleased to host him.  He has been received last by our president today, and as of this meeting we have been having intense deliberations.  Of course we had two very important items on the agenda, the first one being Syria and the Gaza Strip – with the new situation in Syria, for the better of the citizens of Syria, with the sovereignty and for the integrity of Syria.  What could be done by Türkiye and the USA?  What are the rules of the regional actors?  What kind of a cooperation should we have?  These were the topics that we discussed.

Of course, ensuring stability in Syria as soon as possible, taking action to prevent terrorism from establishing a foothold are among our priorities. We discussed what would be done on these issues, what would be done for terrorists – DAESH and PKK – taking action to prevent them from abusing the situation. These were the priorities. We discussed what would be the common worries, what would be the common solutions. We talked about these in depth.

On the other hand, we also discussed the Gaza issue, and we agreed that there should be a ceasefire as soon as possible.  Of course in the region also the USA and Türkiye are active, so we are actively working to achieve this ceasefire, but unfortunately the violence is not ending, and Israel continues killing civilians.

We also discussed what could be done to end this, and at the earliest opportunity.

On the other hand, there were other topics that we discussed that concerned the two countries, topics on the defense industry, and other topics.

Once again, I would like to thank you for the visit.  Most possibly during his tenure, this is going to be the last visit of Mr. Blinken, and I would like to once again thank him for the cooperation he has extended and for the cooperation.  Wish him success in his further life.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, thank you very much.  And let me first say to my colleagues and my friend, the foreign minister, thank you.  Thank you for the friendship.  Thank you for the partnership.  Thank you for the very good work that we’ve been able to do together to strengthen even more the relationship between Türkiye and the United States, and to use that relationship, to use that partnership to try to make progress on the many issues that are of concern to people in both of our countries.

And I also want to extend my thanks and gratitude to President Erdogan for the generosity of his time and his insight last night in receiving us.

As the minister said, we’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.

We talked about how Türkiye, how the United States, how other partners in the region can support those efforts.  And I think there’s broad agreement on what we would each like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria – one that is inclusive and non-sectarian, one that protects the rights or minorities and women, one that preserves institutions of the state and delivers services to the people, one that deals with any chemical weapons it may find to secure them and appropriately destroy them, one that rejects any alliances with extremist groups, and of course one that does not pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors.

There is, I think, growing consensus on what many of us would like to see, because it’s the best way to realize the aspirations of the Syrian people; it’s also the best way to ensure that what emerges in Syria gets the support and recognition that it wants from the international community, and which it very much needs after so many years of dictatorship, of conflict, of corruption, of isolation.

We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down.  Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS, to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again, and it’s imperative that we keep at those efforts.

Finally, as the minister said, we discussed Gaza, and we discussed, I think, the opportunity to finally try to complete the hostage/ceasefire agreement – to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire in place.  And what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks are more encouraging signs that that is possible.  And in my discussions with President Erdogan and with Minister Fidan, we talked about the imperative of Hamas saying yes to the agreement that’s possible, to finally help bring this to an end.  And we appreciate very much the role that Türkiye can play in using its voice with Hamas to try to bring this to conclusion.

We’ll be pursuing these conversations tomorrow in Jordan, in Aqaba, with many of our Arab partners.  And again, I think you’re seeing countries coming together throughout the region – Türkiye, Arab countries, as well as partners like the United States – all in support of the Syrian people, of taking advantage of this moment of opportunity to see Syria moved in a much different direction, one that finally reflects the will of the Syrian people.

Thank you.