Turkish president marks 2023 with intense diplomacy, Gaza tops initiatives

By Ferdi Turkten

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan carried out intense diplomacy throughout 2023 with 21 visits to 15 countries and attending seven summits.

Erdogan, who intensified his international contacts after Türkiye's general elections in May, brought developments in Gaza to the agenda at every meeting he held with world leaders since the beginning of Israeli attacks on Oct. 7. He also hosted many leaders during the year.

- Visits for talks

Erdogan paid his first foreign visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan on June 12-13 after his re-election in May.

On July 10, Erdogan attended the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Within the scope of his Gulf tour, he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates on July 17 - 19 and went to TRNC again on July 20.

Erdogan visited Hungary on Aug. 20 to attend the World Athletics Championships and celebrations of the Hungarian State Foundation Day.

Upon the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan visited Sochi, Russia on Sept. 4 for talks.

The Turkish president traveled to India to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit on Sept. 8 before visiting the US from Sept. 16-20 for the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

Erdogan paid a working visit to Azerbaijan's autonomous Nakhchivan enclave on Sept. 25 upon the invitation of his counterpart, Ilham Aliyev.

- Peace talks for Gaza

Following the Israeli attacks on Gaza on Oct. 7, Erdogan intensified his international contacts and brought Gaza to the agenda at every meeting with the leaders and carried out intensive peace diplomacy.

Erdogan attended the 10th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana on Nov. 2 and visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Nov. 8 - 9 to participate in the 16th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

On Nov. 11, Erdogan visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to attend the Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League.

He met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Nov. 17. before visiting Algeria on Nov. 21 to meet his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Erdogan attended the virtual G20 Leaders' Summit on Nov 22. He engaged in peace diplomacy for Gaza through visits and telephone calls with leaders, especially those in the region.

The Turkish president held phone discussions on seeking solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Erdogan traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 30 to attend the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference, or COP28, in Dubai, and the main agenda item of his meetings was developments in Gaza.

He discussed with world leaders Israeli attacks on the Palestinian territories, steps taken by Türkiye for humanitarian aid and peace and what needs to be done for lasting peace.

Continuing his international contacts in December, President Erdogan paid an official visit to Qatar on Dec. 4 - 5 for the 9th Qatar-Türkiye High Strategic Committee in response to an invitation by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

- 1st official visit to Greece in 6 years

On Dec. 7, President Erdogan arrived in Greece on his first official visit in six years. Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis co-chaired the 5th meeting of the Türkiye-Greece High-Level Cooperation Council to review all aspects of bilateral relations, and to address steps to improve cooperation.

For his last visit of the year, he traveled to Hungary on Dec. 18 for the sixth meeting of the Türkiye-Hungary High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

- Received many leaders

President Erdogan also received many leaders on official and working visits to Türkiye in 2023.

In January, he received Nechirvan Barzani, the leader of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

In February, he hosted Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Nechirvan Barzani, the leader of Iraq's KRG, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Erdogan also met members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Presidential Council for talks in Istanbul in February.

The Turkish president and Croat member Zeljko Komsic, Serb member Zeljka Cvijanovic, and Bosniak member Denis Becirovic held a closed-door meeting.

He also met Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio, Brunei Darussalam's sultan, President of Guinea Bissau Cissoko Embalo Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, Uzbekistan's President ShavkatMirziyoyev, Azerbaijan's President Aliyev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Hungarian President Katalin Novak also visited Turkiye in March.

In June, Erdogan received again Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Masrour Barzani.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Mahmoud Abbas visited Erdogan in July.

In September, Erdogan received the head of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Duke of Edinburgh Prince Edward.

Erdogan met Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who is president of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia in October.

Dodik, along with Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also attended the Justice and Development (AK) Party's 4th extraordinary congress in Ankara.

Erdogan met Austrian Prime Minister Karl Nehammer, the President of the Comoros Azali Assouman, Anwar Ibrahim, his Turkmen counterpart Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mahmud.

In November, he met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu of Maldives and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Erdogan received Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu for talks in December.