UNITED STATES: US President Joe Biden and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday met at the beach resort of Bali, Indonesia, and discussed a host of issues including the recent Istanbul blast and international efforts to help Ukrainian export grain.
According to a statement issued by the White House, the two leaders spoke on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, with a focus on the strained US-Turkish relations.
The White House said that Biden expressed “deep condolences” for the deaths of six people in a bomb attack on a busy street in Istanbul on Sunday, and that “we stand with our Nato ally.”
The Turkish government blames the attack on the PKK, a Kurdish militant group, that has denied involvement.
Earlier, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu refused to accept condolences from the US embassy on Monday, saying that Washington aids Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
“We reject the condolence message from the US embassy.” “We oppose it,” he said.
The Biden-Erdogan meeting also discussed an international agreement to safely transport Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea to global markets.
“President Biden expressed his gratitude to President Erdogan for his efforts to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the White House said. “They both agreed that the initiative has been critical to improving global food security amid Russia’s war and that it must continue.” The agreement with Russia, which is attacking Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, is critical to preventing food shortages around the world, but it is set to expire on Saturday.
