The first signs of a gloomy picture between Turkey and the US came from a key person in the new Biden administration last week. Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken on Tuesday said of Turkey: “The idea that a strategic — so-called strategic — partner of ours would actually be in line with one of our biggest strategic competitors in Russia is not acceptable.” He did not stop there. During his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing, he said that, after assessing the impact of the existing sanctions on Turkey, Washington has to determine whether more pressure is needed.
The United States Special Envoy for Syria Joel D. Rayburn is expected to vacate his post, unnamed U.S officials told the Abu-Dhabi based newspaper The National.
