00:00 Turkey and the US held their most extensive joint military exercises in at least seven
00:10 years.
00:11 It is reported to be a sign of improving ties between the two nations as Turkish President
00:17 Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks another meeting with Joe Biden next month.
00:22 Reports quoted three Turkish officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
00:26 They said that the past week's drills, along with a visit from a bipartisan congressional
00:31 delegation, showed that both the sides are seeking to rebuild their long-time alliance.
00:38 The officials reportedly said that Turkey is seeking to arrange a meeting between Erdogan
00:42 and the US President on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi following one in Lithuania
00:48 last month.
00:50 The officials further said that Turkey sees the joint military exercises as recognition
00:55 by Washington of Ankara's importance as a NATO ally in a region crisscrossed by conflicts.
01:02 Last month, Erdogan dropped his long-held opposition to Sweden's NATO membership in
01:08 a bid to improve ties with the US and also in an effort to buy American-made F-16 fighter
01:14 jets.
01:15 The USS Gerard R-4, which is the world's largest aircraft carrier, visited the Turkish port
01:21 city of Antalya last week.
01:24 Turkish officials said that joint naval and combat drills involving Turkish F-16 and US
01:29 F-18 jets marked the largest joint exercises since bilateral ties hit a low in the aftermath
01:36 of a failed coup attempt against Erdogan in 2016.
01:41 American officials invited Erdogan's son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar, who has led Turkey's development
01:46 of Bayraktar drones to the aircraft carrier in a symbolic gesture.
01:50 Meanwhile, the bipartisan congressional delegation, including Representatives Joe Wilson of South
01:56 Carolina, Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Victoria Sparks of Indiana, held talks in Ankara on
02:02 Friday.
02:04 Turkey was earlier sanctioned by the US over its acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile
02:10 defence system in 2017 and US kicked Turkey out of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 stealth
02:16 jet program, making the F-16 purchase critical to its air force.
02:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
