President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan maintains his diplomacy traffic to seek solutions to regional and global issues and build political and economic ties with foreign countries.
Due to Sweden and Finland's applications for NATO membership as well as the Summit's agenda, President Erdoğan engaged in intense diplomacy traffic last week at the NATO Summit in Madrid, the capital of Spain.
A trilateral memorandum was signed as part of the Summit, following President Erdoğan's three-hour meeting with President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The leaders of Sweden and Finland pledged to address the concerns of Türkiye.
President Erdoğan also held bilateral meetings with President Joe Biden of the United States of America (USA), Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Chancellor Karl Nehammer of Austria, President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón of the Government of Spain, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Charles Michel of the European Council, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and President Klaus Iohannis of Romania.
President Erdoğan did not cease his diplomacy traffic upon his return to Türkiye following his intense contacts in Spain. President Erdoğan hosted Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy at the Presidential Complex on Tuesday.
President Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Draghi chaired the Türkiye-Italy Intergovernmental Summit Session. Following the session, nine agreements were signed between Türkiye and Italy in various fields, mainly in the defence industry, disaster and emergency management, sustainable development, and science and technology.
President Erdoğan met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, who paid an official visit to Türkiye yesterday. Bilateral relations were discussed during the tete-a-tete meeting with Mohamud, and the meetings between delegations and the "In-kind Grant Agreement" was signed.
During the joint press conference with Mohamud, President Erdoğan said, "As Türkiye, we strive to enhance our cooperation with all of our brothers and sisters in Africa on a win-win and equal partnership basis. We are determined to boost our ties with the continent. Our humanitarian and development aid to Somalia over the last decade totals more than one billion dollars."
Diplomacy traffic will continue with Malaysia
The third leader President Erdoğan will welcome in Ankara this week will be Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yakoob. President Erdoğan will host Yakoob, paying a 4-day official visit to Türkiye at the Presidential Complex today. During the meetings, opinions are to be shared on further developing broad, comprehensive and close relations between the two countries, strengthening economic ties, as well as enhancing cooperation in the aerospace and defence industry.
Türkiye sustains its efforts for global food security as well
Under the leadership of President Erdoğan, Türkiye sustains its efforts to transport grain-laden ships blocked in Ukrainian ports as a result of the Russia-Ukraine War to nations in need via the corridor to be opened in the Black Sea.
In this line, negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations proceed through the mediation of Türkiye. On Monday, July 4, military delegations from Türkiye and Ukraine met at the Ministry of National Defence. The actions necessary to overcome the crisis were discussed during the meeting.
The grain crisis was also on the agenda during President Erdoğan's meeting with Italian Prime Minister Draghi. Giving an important message regarding the efforts to open a grain corridor in the Black Sea at the joint press conference of the two leaders, President Erdoğan said, "We will try to reach a result by intensifying our talks within a week or so."
President Erdoğan stated that the approaches of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are crucial and that they wish to continue the negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations by meeting with Secretary General Antonio Guterres.