A delegation comprising members of the US House of Representatives has visited Turkey and held talks with representatives of the country's foreign and defense ministries amid deteriorated relations between Washington and Ankara, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) A delegation comprising members of the US House of Representatives has visited Turkey and held talks with representatives of the country's foreign and defense ministries amid deteriorated relations between Washington and Ankara, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.
"A delegation of members of the US House of Representatives visited Ankara today and held meetings at the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry. The delegation included members of the House Armed Services Committee Michael Turner and John Garamendi, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Marino and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Robert Hood," the source said.
According to the source, the delegation, accompanied by NATO Parliamentary Assembly Secretary General David Hobbs, held a meeting in Turkish parliament and visited the Turkish Aircraft Industries Corporation (TAI) within the framework of the implementation of the F-35 fighter jets' development program.
On Sunday, the delegation visited NATO's Allied Land Command headquarters in the city of Izmir and the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.
The relations between Washington and Ankara initially deteriorated over US pastor Andrew Brunson's detention in Turkey on suspicion of ties to the movement that had allegedly orchestrated the 2016 failed military coup in Ankara. The relations took another nosedive after US President Donald Trump authorized the doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey, up to 50 and 20 percent respectively.
Earlier in August, Trump also signed into law the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which envisaged blocking the transfer of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara.
