Turkish foreign minister visits US this week, source says

Turkey's foreign minister will visit the US on March 7-8 for talks on the Gaza and Ukraine wars and defense and energy, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Tuesday, as relations warm following a warplane deal and cooperation on NATO diplomacy.

Ties between the NATO allies have been strained for years by issues ranging from Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems to US support for a Kurdish militia in Syria regarded by Ankara as a terrorist group.

However, the sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey after Ankara's ratification of Sweden's NATO accession has brought positive momentum to their ties.

During Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's visit, at the invitation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, they will hold a meeting of the "strategic mechanism" that the two countries' leaders decided to establish in 2021 with a focus on bilateral...