US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held their first-ever bilateral phone call since the former took office in January 2021. In a statement released by the White House on Friday evening, it has been conveyed that the two leaders discussed bilateral relations as well as areas of cooperation that could be expanded upon and disagreements witnessed between the two countries.
The statement also reads that the two presidents will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO Summit on 14 June to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues that have formulated the severed bilateral ties witnessed in US-Turkish relations today.
The talk has also taken place a day prior to Biden’s expected declaration of the relocation of the Armenians in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire as a ‘genocide’: a move that is almost certain to anger Ankara and further damage bilateral ties. The subject was expected to be handled in the phone call held between the two leaders, though neither the statement released by the White House nor anything thereafter suggests the topic was discussed during the phone call.
This move would be seen as a reflection of Washington’s list of disagreements over Turkey’s recent policy moves, ranging from its deals with Russia, the recent withdrawal of Turkey from the Istanbul Convention, and its diverging approach with regards to Syria and Libya.
