Despite the coronavirus pandemic, President Erdoğan continued his intense diplomacy traffic as he had in previous years, paying 14 overseas visits, two of which were to Azerbaijan, and hosting a number of foreign heads of state and government in Türkiye.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued his intense diplomacy traffic as he had in previous years.
President Erdoğan participated in a number of international programmes via video conference or video message, and some of his bilateral meetings were held via video conference and telephone as well.
Overseas Visits
President Erdoğan suspended his overseas visits for the first half of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic but resumed them in the second half, paying 14 foreign visits, two of which were to Azerbaijan.
President Erdoğan paid his first overseas visit of the year to Belgium on June 13-14 for the NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government, where he held numerous bilateral meetings as well. Following the Summit, President Erdoğan's had his first tête-à-tête meeting of the year with the US President Joe Biden, who took office in 2020.
President Erdoğan paid his second visit of the year to Azerbaijan on June 15-16 at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev, meeting with him in Fuzuli, which was liberated from the Armenian occupation. President Erdoğan then travelled to Shusha, where he was welcomed with an official ceremony. Following their meeting, President Erdoğan and Aliyev held a joint press conference and signed the Shusha Declaration.
On the invitation of his counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, President Erdoğan paid his second visit to Azerbaijan on October 26.
President Erdoğan was the first head of state to land at the Fuzuli International Airport, which was built in the liberated city of Fuzuli. Two leaders cut the opening ribbon of the airport.
President Erdoğan spent the 2021 Eid al-Adha in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, where he arrived on the eve of the Eid at the invitation of President Ersin Tatar. President Erdoğan performed Eid al-Adha prayer with his counterpart, Ersin Tatar, at Lefkoşa Hala Sultan Mosque.
President Erdoğan paid an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 27 and to Montenegro on August 28.
President Erdoğan inaugurated the New Türkevi Centre in New York
President Erdoğan paid a visit to the United States on September 19-22, 2021, to attend the 76th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Attending a number of meetings during his visit, President Erdoğan inaugurated the New Türkevi Centre in New York on Monday, September 20.
On September 29, President Erdoğan held a tête-à-tête meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Sochi, Russia, where he was on a working visit.
Visits to Three African Countries
President Erdoğan also paid crucial visits to Africa, where Türkiye increased the number of embassies from 12 in 2002 to 43 by 202. In this regard, President Erdoğan made a series of visits to Angola, Togo and Nigeria in October. President Erdoğan has thus visited 30 African countries so far during his tenure as president and prime minister, including the first presidential visits to Togo and Angola.
President Erdoğan held bilateral meetings with many heads of state and government in Italy on October 30-31where he also attended the G20 Leaders' Summit.
President Erdoğan paid an official visit to Turkmenistan on November 27-28, at the invitation of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan. On the second day of his visit, he attended the Economic Cooperation Organisation Summit, of which Türkiye was a founding member. President Erdoğan conducted bilateral meetings with Iran, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan leaders as part of the Summit.
President Erdoğan paid the last visit of the year to Qatar on December 6-7, at the invitation of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar.
Guests Received
In 2021, President Erdoğan received a number of heads of state and government in Ankara and İstanbul.
President Erdogan's first guest was Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania, who arrived in Türkiye on January 6. On January 30, President Erdoğan met with President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau and President Macky Sall of Senegal at Vahdettin Mansion.
Along with Council Members Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović, President Milorad Dodik of the Presidential Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who paid an official visit to Türkiye on March 16, were among whom President Erdoğan met.
Meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during his visit to Türkiye on April 10, President Erdoğan also met with President of TRNC Ersin Tatar, who paid a working visit to Türkiye on April 26.
First UCAV export to a NATO and European Union member state
President Andrzej Sebastian Duda of Poland was also among the guests hosted by President Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex. During the visit on May 24, the two Presidents attended the signing ceremony of the agreements and held a joint press conference, following the tete-a-tete and inter-delegation meetings.
"Bayraktar TB2 Armen Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Supply Contract" was also signed at the signing ceremony.
Emphasising that Türkiye was one of the top three or four countries in the world for unmanned aerial vehicles in his statement at the press conference, President Erdoğan said, " We are highly pleased to share our experience, capabilities and means in this field with Poland as well, our NATO ally. With the document that has just been signed, Türkiye will export UAVs to a NATO and EU member state for the first time in its history. I believe that our cooperation in this area will increasingly continue in the period ahead. "
President Erdoğan received Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili of Georgia, Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of North Macedonia separately at the beginning of June.
As part of Türkiye's Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Term Presidency, President Erdoğan met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of Croatia, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić of Serbia, President Stevo Pendarovski of North Macedonia, Members of the Presidential Council of Bosnia - Herzegovina, President Milo Đukanović of Montenegro, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu of Kosovo, and President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti at the SEECP Heads of State and Government Summit held at NEST Congress Center on June 17.
President Erdoğan received President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola, Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo of Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, President Alpha Condé of Guinea, President Arif Alvi of Pakistan, President Julius Maada Wonie Bio of Sierra Leone, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali of Ethiopia, President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia.
8th Summit of the Organisation of Turkic States
President Erdoğan met with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, President Kassym-Jomart K. Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan, and Secretary-General of the Turkic Council Baghdad Amreyev who attended the summit.
In 2021, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among President Erdoğan's guests. President Erdoğan hosted his guest at Huber Villa.
Receiving also Transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno of Chad, President Erdoğan met President Pedro Sánchez of the Government of Spain, who paid an official visit to Türkiye to attend the 7th Türkiye-Spain Intergovernmental Summit.
President Erdoğan received the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan at the Presidential Complex on December 24.
3rd Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit
The third Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit was held in Istanbul on December 16-18, following the first in Istanbul in 2008 and the second in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, in 2014.
President Erdoğan held 15 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, which was attended by 38 countries and held with the theme of "Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity”.
President Erdoğan participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for the third unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, a joint project of Türkiye and Russia, via videoconference with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
