In his nomination hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 19, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for secretary of state Antony Blinken accused NATO member Turkey of not acting like an ally and said Washington would review if further sanctions are required on Ankara over its acquisition of a Russian air defense system. “Turkey is an ally, that in many ways… is not acting as an ally should and this is a very, very significant challenge for us and we’re very clear-eyed about it,” Blinken said.

On January 11, a week and a half prior to Biden’s inauguration, Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk that their contacts with the transition team so far had been very positive. “They say they want to develop good relations with Turkey and turn a new page,” Kalin added.

The European Union and Turkey have pressed each other to take concrete steps in order to improve relations long strained by disagreements over a number of issues including energy and migration. “We have seen an improvement in the overall atmosphere,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday as he welcomed Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to Brussels for talks on January 21. The improved tone between the two sides follows a video conference between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on January 9 with both stressing the importance of the bilateral relationship.

On January 22nd, Turkish Foreign Minister told reporters that Turkey and the EU agreed to work on a roadmap for enhancing relations following a two day working visit to Brussels. Cavusoğlu said “2020 was a problematic year” for relations between Turkey and the EU but a more positive dialogue has developed since the EU leaders’ meeting in December. The presidents of the European Council and Commission will visit Turkey upon Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation for talks on Turkey-EU relations, Cavusoğlu added.