Kerry’s Ankara visit to bridge the rift in US-Turkey ties

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A planned visit of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s to Turkey on Friday is meant to heal the rift between Ankara and Washington and smooth out differences over a number of issues between the two NATO allies, Turkish analysts said.

New US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Turkey for talks expected to focus on the conflict in Syria.

The two Nato allies both oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but differ on how best to support the opposition.

The visit is being overshadowed by a row over comments by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called Zionism a “crime against humanity”.

US officials said Mr Kerry would raise the remarks directly with Mr Erdogan.

Israel’s relations with Turkey have deteriorated in recent years.

Yasin Aktay, the president of the Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE), said that there are various issues need to be discussed between the two sides.

“During Kerry’s visit, all the pending issues in the region and on the bilateral level, including situation in Syria and Iraq will be put on the table,” he said.

“The US-Turkish relations are generally good, but not without even a thorny issue. There are differences in the approaches in Syria, Iraq, Israel and Iran, but both the United States and Turkey share the same goals,” Mehmet Sahin, a professor of international relations at the Ankara-based Gazi University, told Xinhua.

Voice of Russia, Xinhua, BBC

via Kerry’s Ankara visit to bridge the rift in US-Turkey ties: Voice of Russia.