Ankara making most effort to end Moscow-Kyiv war: Turkish foreign minister

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish foreign minister said Tuesday that Türkiye is the country that is making the most effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Addressing a meeting for the parliament's Planning and Budget Commission in the capital Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu reviewed some issues, including global and regional developments, Türkiye's foreign policy, as well as efforts toward ending the war in Ukraine.

"All my interlocutors say that Türkiye is the country that contributes the most to global peace and wants us to continue our efforts to end the war," the top diplomat said.

The international system currently is "going through a period of multiple crises," Cavusoglu said, adding that Türkiye is in an effort to "lower the tension and alleviate the crises in the global system where separation stands out instead of solidarity."

He also said: "The West, which accused Türkiye of negotiating with Russia in the Ukraine crisis, is now strongly calling for steps to be taken for dialogue."

Meanwhile, highlighting the success of Türkiye's diplomatic efforts, he said: "Ankara's recently increasing mediation activities continue to yield results and make a difference in different areas such as Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Philippines, and Venezuela."

He also noted that Türkiye has become "the country that makes the biggest contribution to global food security."

Thanks to the grain export deal signed by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine in Istanbul, the World Food Price Index fell by 9%, he said, adding that this was "the biggest drop in 13 years."

- Ankara's normalization policies

Türkiye's normalization policies have an important place in its active foreign policy this year, Cavusoglu noted, saying Ankara is conducting "the normalization process with Armenia for peace and prosperity in the South Caucasus."

In coordination with Azerbaijan, Türkiye's attempts to make Armenia a stakeholder of peace will continue.

Also, the country's relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have entered a new era, he underlined, saying that in a short time, Türkiye "resolved many issues during mutual high-level visits and achieved mutual gains in many areas such as trade, investments, education, culture, foreign policy."

"We aim to cooperate with Israel based on mutual interests and respect for mutual sensitivities," he said, adding that both countries mutually reappointed their ambassadors and high-level visits are underway.

"An important element of our relations is, of course, the rights of our Palestinian brothers and the status of Jerusalem," he stressed.

On Türkiye-Syria relations, the minister said: "If a suitable environment arises for the current contacts between intelligence agencies to be brought to the diplomatic level, we will evaluate this as well."

Stressing the strong ties between Türkiye and Libya, the foreign minister said the signing of the memorandum of understanding on hydrocarbon and gas between the two countries in Tripoli last month brought our cooperation to the next level.

Cavusoglu also said: "We resolutely protect the rights and interests of our country and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean."

A tripartite memorandum signed between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden on the Nordic countries’ bids for NATO membership was an "important achievement" in terms of highlighting Türkiye's anti-terrorism priorities, he said.

Speaking on Türkiye's Africa policies, he said that by the end of this year, the trade volume will reach $45 billion, expanding around 10-fold since 2002.

Meanwhile, Ankara's trade with Latin America and the Caribbean region has increased from $1 billion to $15 billion, he added, saying: "We aim to reach the highest bilateral trade volume in our history this year."

- Recent development in Turkic world

The Turkic world continued to witness important developments after Azerbaijan's Karabakh Victory marking the second anniversary of the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from nearly three decades of occupation by Armenian forces, he noted.

The new format of dialogue and cooperation was established with the foreign, economy, and transport ministers of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.

The importance of the Trans-Caspian East-West Middle Corridor has further increased "the global weight of the Turkic world," he said.

The Middle Corridor is a network of railways and roads that start in Türkiye and cover Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, and Central Asia to reach China, making it an important effort to revive the ancient Silk Road.

In 2021, Ankara "decided to transform the Organization of Turkic States into an international organization in Istanbul," and is "planning to take concrete steps for the future at the Samarkand Summit," which will be held this week on trade and transport cooperation, he added.

Also, "our comprehensive cooperation with Azerbaijan continues, from defense, energy, logistics, transportation (sectors), to the reconstruction of the lands liberated from the occupation," he said.