US State Secretary Antony Blinken met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara following a tour of the Middle East focused on Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, AFP reports.

Blinken’s first visit to Turkiye since Israel went to war in reprisal for the fighters’ October 7 attack did not include a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was travelling in Turkiye’s northeast.