Istanbul (EFE).- The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, will arrive in Turkey this Sunday to visit the areas affected by the two earthquakes on February 6 and tomorrow he will travel to Ankara, where he will meet with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, in what is his first official visit to the Eurasian country.
The head of US diplomacy travels to Turkey to show his solidarity with the country and convey his condolences to those affected, says a note from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, specifying that he will meet with Çavusoglu in Ankara on Monday.
Blinken’s official agenda indicates that the politician will first visit the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, on the outskirts of the city of Adana, which has been moderately affected by the earthquake.
Starting at 12:30 GMT, Blinken will visit with Çavusoglu the neighboring province of Hatay, one of the most destroyed, then he will inspect the air base’s aid logistics area and at 3:00 p.m. he will meet with relatives of affected Turkish soldiers because of the earthquake.
He will also meet US rescue teams and members of the White Helmets, a Syrian humanitarian aid organization, according to the agenda published by Washington.
Tomorrow, Blinken will be in Ankara, where, in an official act, he will thank Çavusoglu for the Turkish cooperation provided to deliver humanitarian aid to the areas affected by the earthquake in Syria.
This is Blinken’s first visit to Turkey, traditionally a major US ally in NATO but embroiled in diplomatic tensions with the White House for years.
Blinken arrives from Munich, where he has participated since Thursday in the Security Conference, and from Turkey he will continue his trip to Greece.
On Tuesday, he will meet in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and opposition leader Alexis Tsipras.
