Blinken meets Greek PM Mitsotakis after an hour of talks with Erdogan

CHANIA, GREECE — Washington's top diplomat Antony Blinken arrived on the island of Crete on Saturday to meet with the Greek prime minister and address Greece's concerns about the looming sale of US fighter jets to Ankara, after talks with President Recep Tayip Erdogan in Turkey. 

Athens has fiercely contested the US jet sales because of longstanding territorial disputes with Turkey in the energy-rich eastern Mediterranean region.

Greece is seeking to purchase a batch of more advanced F-35 jets from the United States to counter the perceived Turkish threat.

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said in an interview with Skai TV on Saturday that it was only a matter of time before Greece joined the F-35 programme, saying that Greek-US relations "have reached their peak".

He said the talks between Blinken and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at his family home in Chania would focus on two issues: International developments regarding war in Gaza and Ukraine, and bilateral relations especially on energy and defence cooperation issues, including the supply of F-35s.

"Greece in the last five years has followed a policy of strengthening its armed forces. The country is gaining a special weight, the upgrading of the armed forces is an important issue," Gerapetritis said.

"For us it is completely irrelevant what Turkey does in relation to the United States," he added. 

Blinken's fourth crisis tour of the three-month-old Gaza war comes as fears mount that the conflict could engulf swathes of the Middle East.

During more than an hour of talks with Erdogan earlier Saturday, Blinken "emphasised the need to prevent the conflict from spreading", the US State Department said.

Blinken also pointed to the need to "work toward broader, lasting regional peace that ensures Israel's security and advances the establishment of a Palestinian state", it said. 

A Turkish diplomatic source said Foreign Minister Hakan Fiden pressed Blinken during a separate meeting for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza that could ensure the smooth delivery of aid.

Turkey told the Hamas chiefs to leave after some were captured on video celebrating the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

Strident critic 

Erdogan has since turned into one of the Muslim world’s harshest critics of Washington’s support for Israel’s Gaza campaign. 

He has compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused the United States of sponsoring the “genocide” of Palestinians.

He has also rebuffed US pressure to cut off the suspected flow of funding to Hamas through Turkey, and defended the group as legitimately elected “liberators” fighting for their land.

The US State Department on Friday announced $10 million in rewards for information about five alleged Hamas foreign operatives — three of them believed to be based in Turkey — who are thought to be helping finance the Iran-backed group.

Erdogan began to tone down his most strident comments after US President Joe Biden last month called the Turkish leader for the first time since the war broke out.

The call helped push along NATO member Turkey’s glacial progress in accepting Sweden into the US-led defence organisation in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

A key parliamentary committee approved Sweden’s application in late December.

Some analysts believe Biden’s call also secured Blinken’s meeting with Erdogan — the Turkish leader notably left the city during Blinken’s last visit two months ago.

Assurances 

Blinken entered the talks hoping to win assurances that a ratification vote on Sweden’s accession to NATO will be held soon by Turkey’s full parliament.

The State Department said Blinken and Erdogan discussed “completing Sweden’s accession to NATO and strengthening trade and investment between the United States and Turkey”.

Erdogan has been able to use Turkey’s veto power to impel Sweden into taking a tougher stance with Kurdish groups in Stockholm that Ankara views as “terrorists”.

He has also been trying to make Sweden’s approval conditional on the US delivering 40 F-16 fighter jets and nearly 80 modernisation kits for Turkey’s ageing air force.

Biden’s administration officially backs the sale, but it has been unable to overcome resistance in Congress from lawmakers alarmed by Turkey’s position on Sweden and its past military stand-offs with historic rival Greece.