Over the past month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan conducted intense diplomacy traffic in the Iranian capital of Tehran, the Russian city of Sochi, and the Ukrainian city of Lviv.
President Erdoğan participated in two "trilateral summits" and had bilateral discussions with his counterparts on Syria, the Russia-Ukraine War, regional issues and bilateral relations as part of his visits over the past month. On July 19, President Erdoğan travelled to the Iranian capital of Tehran to attend the 7th Tripartite Summit in the Astana Format on Syria.
President Erdoğan, who met individually with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, chaired the 7th Meeting of the Türkiye-Iran High-Level Cooperation Council.
On July 22, three days after this meeting in Tehran, Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Nations (UN) signed the "Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports" document in Istanbul under the auspices of President Erdoğan to ensure the functioning of the Ukrainian Grain Corridor.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar, Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu of Russia and Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov of Ukraine were also present at the signing ceremony held at the Presidential Working Office in the Dolmabahçe Palace, attended by President Erdoğan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which will implement and monitor the plan devised for exporting Ukrainian grain and other food items to global markets, began operations on July 27 under the terms of the agreement.
Between August 1 and August 18, 43 grain-carrying vessels sailed, with 25 of them leaving from Ukrainian ports. Eighteen grain-carrying vessels sailed to Ukrainian ports. Over 622 thousand tonnes of grain were shipped from Ukrainian ports in seventeen days.
Meetings in Sochi
On August 5, 17 days after his visit to Tehran, President Erdoğan travelled to Sochi, Russia, at the invitation of President Putin of Russia. During his meetings with Putin as part of the programme, President Erdoğan discussed current global and regional issues as well as Türkiye-Russia relations.
In a joint statement issued following this bilateral meeting, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to act in solidarity and coordination in the fight against all terrorist organisations in Syria.
In the statement, it was noted that President Erdoğan and President Putin confirmed that the constructive relations between the two countries contributed to the conclusion of the Istanbul Agreement for the safe shipping of grain and other goods from Ukrainian ports.
During their meeting in Sochi, President Erdoğan and President Putin addressed the usage of the MIR card and bilateral trade in national currencies.
Trilateral summit in Lviv
President Erdoğan arrived in Lviv, Ukraine, on August 18, 13 days after the meeting in Sochi, at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, as part of his diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine War, evacuate civilians from the region, and restore peace.
At the trilateral summit, President Erdoğan met with Zelensky and UN Secretary-General Guterres in addition to having a tête-à-tête meeting with Zelensky at the Potocki Palace. Following the summit, President Erdoğan held a joint press conference with President Zelensky and UN Secretary-General Guterres.
In the presence of President Erdoğan and President Zelensky, an agreement was signed for the reconstruction of Ukraine's infrastructure destroyed by the war.
In the agreement between Türkiye and Ukraine, the establishment of a Task Force for the reconstruction of Ukraine and the joint coordination of the Task Force's work for the reconstruction of socially and economically significant facilities in Ukraine, such as roads, bridges, water and electricity infrastructure, hospitals, and schools, have been stipulated.
President Erdoğan's contacts in the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games
President Erdoğan engaged in a number of contacts as part of the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya on August 9.
President Erdoğan met with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, President Ersin Tatar of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh of Palestine, Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania, Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane of Algeria, Minister of Sports of Saudi Arabia and President of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, and President of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani.
President Erdoğan's phone traffic
In the last month, President Erdoğan spoke by phone with four presidents and two prime ministers.
President Erdoğan spoke by phone with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, President Andrzej Duda of Poland, and President Isaac Herzog of Israel, as well as Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob of Malaysia and Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Israel.
In addition, President Erdoğan received President Borut Pahor of Slovenia and King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah of Malaysia at the Presidential Complex.