Senior US diplomat John Bass visits Türkiye for regional talks

John Bass, acting under secretary of state for political affairs, is visiting Türkiye on Jan. 9-10 for high-level discussions with Turkish officials.

The visit aims to address regional issues, particularly the situation in Syria. Bass was also the U.S. ambassador to Türkiye from 2014 to 2017.

During the meetings, Bass will focus on implementing a peaceful and inclusive political transition in Syria, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 according to the reports.

Discussions will also expected to cover preventing Syria from being used as a base for terrorism, ensuring regional stability, and achieving the lasting defeat of the Daesh terrorist group.

Addressing key regional challenges

The discussions are expected to include operations against Daesh and other terrorist organizations, such as PKK/YPG.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken commented ahead of the visit, stating, “We’ve been working very closely as well with our ally, our partner … (Türkiye) which has very legitimate concerns, of course, about the PKK and about terrorism, to navigate this transition, to navigate it in a way that I think leads to a resolution of many of those concerns,” Blinken said.

The SDF is led by the YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group.

“This is a process that’s going to take some time, and in the meantime, what is profoundly not in the interest of everything positive we see happening in Syria would be a conflict,” Blinken said.