US, Turkey to strengthen coordination to advance peace agenda in  South Caucasus

ArmInfo. On Wednesday, the United States and Turkey decided to "strengthen coordination and cooperation" to establish peace in the South Caucasus, according to a  joint statement of high-ranking diplomats of the two countries, after  the meeting held in Washington, TURAN reports.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Secretary Mevlut  Cavusoglu hosted the 4th meeting of the US-Turkey Strategic Mechanism  at the State Department on Wednesday.

According to the joint statement, the parties had an extensive  dialogue on a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation,  emphasizing the importance of partnership in NATO. Blinken and  Cavusoglu reaffirmed their commitment to a "results-oriented agenda".  The US-Turkish defense partnership was also discussed, including the  modernization of the Turkish F-16 fleet.

Washington and Anlara underlined their unconditional support for the  sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, reaffirming their  support for finding a solution to end the war.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to collective defense, as  well as to the NATO Open Door Policy.  "The implementation of the  tripartite memorandum signed by Finland, Sweden and Turkey to advance  the application of Finland and Sweden to join NATO was touched upon,"  the report says.