Ankara, Washington discuss Ukraine events, Türkiye's F-16 order

A telephone call has been held between the Turkish president’s press secretary, Ibrahim Kalin, and the national security advisor to the US president, Jake Sullivan.

According to the press service of the Turkish administration, the sides have talked about bilateral and international current issues such as the war in Ukraine, Anadolu reports.

The representatives have exchanged their views on the political and economical ties existing between Ankara and Washington, while also discussing the military and energy partnership between their states.

The Turkish press secretary emphasized the importance of diplomatic efforts to soften the impact the Ukrainian conflict is having, not only on peace and stability in the world but on the global economy, energy and food security.

Kalin reassured that Ankara will continue its diplomatic initiatives for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, such as working on the extension of the Istanbul grain agreement which is set to expire in November 2022. On July 27 an agreement, formally known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was signed in the Turkish capital to facilitate the export of essential food products amid the ongoing military conflict. The document was signed in the presence of Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and UN representatives.

He also voiced Türkiye’s expectations for the “unconditional completion of the approval process of the F-16 procurement and modernization request by the US Congress”.

During the call, the recent incidents in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea as well as other regional issues were also touched upon. The Turkish side reaffirmed to his American counterpart Ankara’s determination to protect it’s legal rights and interests in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea and urged Greece “ to put an end to their actions and provocative statements which disregard international law”.