Postponement of Erdogan’s official visit to Washington

WASHINGTON/ANKARA, April 26 (Reuters) – The official visit to the United States by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was due to meet Joe Biden on May 9 at the White House, is postponed, two sources said on Friday .

A new date will be set soon, said a Turkish official, who requested anonymity. Another source familiar with preparations for the visit said the reasons for the postponement were not yet known.

The Turkish official spoke of a change in the Turkish leader’s schedule.

The White House had not officially announced this visit, but an American official told Reuters at the end of March that Ankara had accepted the May 9 date proposed by the American administration.

The Turkish president’s last visit to the United States dates back to November 2019, under the presidency of Donald Trump.

Tensed relations between the two NATO allies have calmed since Ankara ratified – belatedly – Sweden’s accession to NATO last January.

Divergences remain, however, on the situation in northern Syria, in particular, where the Turkish army is carrying out land operations against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia described as “terrorist” by Ankara which is fighting in the ranks. of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with the support of the United States against the Islamic State (IS) group.

Since his election in 2020, Joe Biden has spoken with Recep Tayyip Erdogan a few times on the sidelines of international summits and during telephone contacts. (Reporting Jonathan Spicer, written by Ece Toksabay; French version Alban Kacher, edited by Sophie Louet)