Blinken to meet Greek, Turkish leaders as Gaza diplomacy tour begins

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected to meet the leaders of Greece and Turkey on Saturday at the start of a week-long trip aimed at tamping down tensions that have spiked across the Middle East since Israel's war with Hamas began in October.

The Biden administration's top diplomat kicked off his talks by meeting Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Istanbul and was also scheduled later to meet President Tayyip Erdogan, a strong critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza.

The talks in Turkey are also expected to cover Turkey's process to ratify Sweden's membership of NATO, according to a senior State Department official traveling with Blinken.

US officials have been frustrated by the lengthy process but are now confident that Ankara will soon approve Sweden's accession to the alliance after the Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission...