ISTANBUL, March 29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with US counterpart Joe Biden at the White House on May 9, a Turkish official told AFP on Friday. 

It would be the first White House meeting between the two leaders.

The Biden administration in January approved $23 billion in F-16 warplanes for Turkey swiftly after it ratified Sweden's stalled NATO membership bib. 

Some analysts additionally linked Turkey's continued delays to Erdogan's anger at Washington for its support of how Israel is pursuing its war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan has turned into one of the Muslim world's harshest critics of Israel's devastating response to the unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

The Turkish leader has compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and accused the United States of sponsoring the "genocide" of Palestinians.