Blinken arrives in Istanbul as part of a “Middle Eastern” tour that includes 5 countries
Baghdad today – follow-up
US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, arrived this evening, Friday (January 5, 2024), in Istanbul, his first stop on a tour in the Middle East centered on the war in Gaza, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent accompanying him.
In addition to Turkey and Greece, Blinken will visit five Arab countries, as well as Israel and the West Bank, as part of this fourth tour in the region since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Blinken would discuss issues including “immediate measures to significantly increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
Miller said he would also discuss “preventing the spread of the conflict,” days after Hamas leader Saleh Al-Arouri was killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon and while the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen target ships in the Red Sea.
Miller stressed, “He will discuss specific steps that the parties can take, including how they can use their influence with others in the region to prevent escalation.”
He continued, “The conflict crossing the Gaza borders is not in anyone’s interest – not Israel, the region, or the world.”
He explained that Blinken will visit Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
This is Blinken’s fourth tour in the region since the October 7 attack launched by Hamas on Israel, which was met with a major Israeli military campaign on the Gaza Strip.
Source: Agencies
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