ISTANBUL (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio “requested Turkey’s support for peace in Ukraine” during his first meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the State Department said late Tuesday.
Fidan is on a two-day trip to Washington, where he is seeking to shore up Turkey-U.S. ties that became increasingly frayed under Joe Biden’s presidency. The visit follows a telephone call between the countries’ presidents that Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff described as “transformational.”
Turkey has maintained close ties with Russia and Ukraine during the three-year war and has previously offered to mediate talks. It hosted unsuccessful peace talks in 2022. Under the Biden administration, Ankara’s ongoing trade with Russia drew repeated warnings from Washington.
Rubio and Fidan discussed efforts to establish a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported, adding that Ankara supported U.S. initiatives.
Rubio also “encouraged even greater economic partnership” between the NATO allies, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Fidan will hope to make progress on removing U.S. sanctions on Turkey as well as allowing it to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program, which it helped develop with other NATO partners before it was kicked out in 2019.
During his first term, Trump also imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems. Further technical talks would be held to resolve “existing problems,” Anadolu reported.
While the Anadolu report cited “diplomatic sources,” the U.S. statement did not mention defense issues.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing nationwide protests over the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and other opposition figures. The State Department’s Bruce said Rubio had “expressed concerns” over the arrests and demonstrations.
Trump’s lack of emphasis on the human rights records of U.S. allies is likely to have emboldened Erdogan’s move against Imamoglu, the main challenger to his 22 years in power, analysts say. In the immediate aftermath of the mayor’s arrest last week, Bruce said the administration would “not comment on the internal decision-marking processes of another country.”
Trump’s conciliatory approach to Moscow, moreover, has also stoked Ankara’s hopes of improved ties with the White House, while the countries’ presidents seem to enjoy a warm relationship.
“It’s a good country and its leader is good,” Anadolu reported Trump as saying Tuesday at a reception for Tom Barrack, the new U.S. ambassador to Ankara.
Rubio and Fidan also discussed the need to cooperate over stability in Syria, where Turkey is playing in leading role, as well as the need to secure a lasting peace between Turkey’s other neighbors Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Ankara supported rebels fighting now-deposed President Bashar Assad’s forces throughout the 14-year Syrian conflict and now has close ties to the new administration. In particular, it has offered to help ensure security in Syria, as well as help rebuild the war-ravaged country.
Anadolu said that Fidan stressed the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to help bolster regional stability. Erdogan’s government is a long-standing backer of Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel and Western governments, including the U.S. Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, strongly denouncing Israel’s military actions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, shakes the hand of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, at the State Department, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, shakes the hand of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, at the State Department, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from Myanmar's powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake keeps climbing amid rescue efforts.
The military government said Saturday that 1,644 people have been killed, with thousands of others injured and dozens missing.
The earthquake struck midday Friday, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.4.
In Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, leaving 10 people dead.
Several countries, including Malaysia, Russia and China have dispatched rescue and relief teams.
Here is the latest:
Myanmar’s ruling military said on state television that the confirmed death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake increased to 1,644.
The new total is a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139 from Friday's quake.
Russia has sent a medical team to Myanmar to care for earthquake victims, a Health Ministry official said.
According to Alexey Kuznetsov, the medics include specialists in infectious diseases, resuscitation and traumatology.
Separately, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that two planes carrying Russian rescue workers have landed in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
Earlier, the ministry reported that a mission, including search and rescue teams, canine units, anaesthesiologists and psychologists, was on its way to the disaster-stricken country.
The ministry said that its rescue teams are equipped with “endoscopes and acoustic devices for searching for people in rubble up to 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) deep, as well as ground-penetrating radars and thermal imagers.”
Hong Kong sent a group of 51 search-and-rescue personnel to help with earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar. The group includes firefighters and ambulance personnel as well as two search-and-rescue dogs, among others.
The group brings along nine tons (18,000 pounds) of equipment including life detectors and masonry cutting machines, as well as an automatic satellite tracking antenna system that provides network connection, according to a statement on the Hong Kong government’s website.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport.
The photos taken Saturday show the tower toppled over as if sheered from its base. Debris lay scattered from the top of the tower, which controlled all air traffic in the capital of Myanmar.
It wasn’t immediately clear if there had been any injuries in the collapse, though the tower would have had staff inside of it at the time of the earthquake Friday. It likely also stopped air traffic into the international airport, given all electronics and radar would have been routed into the tower for controllers.
Flights carrying rescue teams from China have landed at the airport in Yangon instead of going directly to the airports in the major stricken cities of Mandalay and Naypyitaw.
A spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said that Beijing will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake relief efforts.
An additional rescue team of 82 people left Bejing, hours after a different team of emergency responders from the Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, arrived in the earthquake-stricken country.
Additionally, 16 members of the Chinese civil relief squad Blue Sky Rescue Team in the city of Ruili, Yunnan, departed to Muse City in northern Myanmar to help with relief efforts, according to state broadcaster CGTN. Chinese authorities also sent a first batch of 80 tents and 290 blankets.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The earthquake was felt in parts of China's Yunnan province, though casualties were limited. Two people in Ruili suffered minor injuries and 847 homes were damaged, according to authorities. Some high-rise buildings and older houses in urban areas were also partially damaged, but power and water supplies and transportation and communications lines have been restored.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says that his government will support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross Movement."
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters posted on X.
South Korea will send the aid through international organizations to support recovery efforts following the recent earthquake.
The Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Seoul will closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if needed.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese rescuers arrive at the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Haymhan Aung/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 29, 2025, Russian Emergency Ministry employees gather to board one of two planes with rescuers to Myanmar following Friday's earthquake, from a Moscow airfield, Russia. (Russia Emergency Ministry press service via AP)
Rescuers walk past the ruin of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
People stand near a damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Rescue workers help an injured women who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, center, inspects damaged road caused by an earthquake Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)
Rescue workers take an injured man who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
People wait at the damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after an earthquake. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives of workers of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake wait as rescuers search for victims, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Volunteers look for survivors near a damaged building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, victims caused by an earthquake is seen compound of government hospital Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)
