Biden and Erdogan met on G20 sidelines: details

On November 15, US President Joe Biden met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit, which is being held on the island of Bali in Indonesia. The meeting was unannounced and short.

The press service of the White House informed about the content of the meeting.

Western media noted that the White House did not announce the meeting in advance. And the American journalists who accompanied Biden to the G20 were not allowed to cover it.

In a statement, the press service reported that Biden and Erdogan discussed the terrorist attack in Istanbul.

Biden expressed his "deep condolences" to President Erdogan and the people of Turkey in connection with the acts of violence in the Turkish capital. He made it clear that "we support our NATO ally," the press service added.

The two countries' presidents also talked about international efforts to export Ukrainian grain.

Photo: www.birgun.net"President Biden expressed his gratitude to President Erdogan for his efforts to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which they both agreed is critical to improving global food security in the face of war with russia, and that the initiative should be continued," the White House said.

Another sensitive issue discussed by Biden and Erdogan was "close coordination" with regard to NATO. As you know, Turkey is currently blocking applications for membership of Finland and Sweden in the Alliance.

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It will be recalled that the Turkish government blamed the Kurdish group "Kurdistan Workers' Party" (PKK) for the terrorist attack in Istanbul that occurred on Sunday. It denies its involvement.

On Monday, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu refused to accept condolences from the US Embassy. At the same time, he said that Washington is helping to arm Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.