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President Erdogan insists that the United States Congress first approves the sale of American F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Until yesterday, analysts said Washington had largely sidelined Turkey in diplomatic efforts to end the war between Israel and Hamas, but as VOA's Istanbul correspondent Dorian Jones reports - the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Turkey in recent days signals that this policy has changed.
Observers see Secretary of State Antony Blinken's decision to kick off his latest Middle East tour with a meeting with Turkey's Foreign Minister and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as significant.
According to them, President Erdoğan's support for Hamas initially caused Washington to largely exclude Ankara from efforts to resolve the Israel-Hamas war.
Mr. Blinken's visit, however, shows that Turkey may have a role to play.
"Turkish diplomacy may be necessary to convince Hamas to work with the Palestinian Authority on creating a police force, or counter-terrorism efforts, or even some kind of basic governance structure for Gaza. I think that Turkey will have a role for this. The American administration has realized that ignoring Turkey is not moderating Erdogan's tone," says Mrs. Asli Aydinbastas from the Brookings Institute, based in Washington.
Washington and Ankara also share concern about the possible spread of the war in the Middle East.
Secretary Blinken's talks in Istanbul also focused on Sweden's NATO membership, which Turkey has yet to ratify.
President Erdogan insists that the United States Congress first approves the sale of American F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Washington, however, says Ankara must first ratify Sweden's membership.
Analysts say Ankara is skeptical that President Joe Biden can convince Congress to sell F-16 jets to Turkey given the difficulties in securing approval for military aid to Ukraine.
"President Biden cannot put pressure on the Senate and the House of Representatives for the sake of Turkey. He failed to do so in the case of Ukraine. So how can he do this in the name of Turkey, which does not give anything and supports Hamas", says Ms. Sezin Oney from the online political news site, 'PolitikYol'.
Observers say Secretary Blinken is likely to warn President Erdogan that the longer the impasse continues, the more opposition to Turkey will grow in Congress.
The ratification of Sweden's membership in NATO gives Ankara an important diplomatic leverage not only with Washington, but also with the European Union. Analysts, however, warn that by delaying ratification, his motives will be questioned by NATO allies because of Mr. Erdogan's ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Criticizing Turkey for making an agreement with Russia to block or postpone the expansion of NATO, which includes Hungary, is not the right way to look at this issue. Turkey is doing this for its own concerns and to get the most out of its national interest," says Sinan Ulgen, an analyst at the Istanbul-based Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies.
While the Turkish Parliament is expected to meet at the end of this month, Washington is pushing for a quick vote on Sweden's request to join NATO./VOA
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