Erdogan sips tea on Black Sea as Blinken visits Ankara

When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ankara to get help from Turkish officials on the Israel-Palestine war, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan broke with tradition and decided to stay in Turkey's Black Sea region, where he was pictured sharing cups of tea with locals. 

Erdogan could have organised for him and Blinken to have met in Ankara. Instead, he chose not to, which has widely been perceived as a clear snub.

For decades, Erdogan has engaged with every visiting US secretary of state, barring exceptional circumstances. In fact, Erdogan hosted Blinken in Ankara in February.

But as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza, Turkey and the United States continue to have incredibly divergent views on the ongoing Israel-Palestine war, as the body count in the Gaza Strip continues to rise rapidly. 

When Blinken came to Ankara, he met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, meeting beyond the two-and-a-half-hour mark, which also lacked the customary post-meeting news conference. 

Sources told Middle East Eye's Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu that Blinken's meeting with Fidan was "constructive and positive". Turkish sources told Soylu that Fidan emphasised to Blinken the need to shield civilians in Gaza from harm and ensure they are not displaced. 

A Turkish official seeking to downplay the incident emphasised that Blinken's designated counterpart is Fidan. 

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