UPDATE - Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit Türkiye, President Erdogan says

UPDATES WITH OTHER STATEMENTS BY TURKISH PRESIDENT

By Muhammed Enes Calli and Merve Berker

ISTANBUL/ Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will visit Türkiye, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

“I told him (Netanyahu), 'We are expecting you first, and then I will pay a visit to Israel with my delegation', and we agreed on that," Erdogan told reporters during his visit to New York.

"We will start energy drilling work with Israel. Not only will we begin operating energy transmission lines to Türkiye, but also from Türkiye to Europe," he added.

On Tuesday, Erdogan met with Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly and discussed a range of issues including bilateral ties and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Currently, we (Türkiye and Israel) have a total trade volume of $9.5 billion. We reached an agreement to increase this trade volume from $9.5 billion to a minimum of $15 billion in the first phase," the Turkish president said.

Erdogan said they discussed what they can do together in international politics.

"We talked about the benefits of establishing a mechanism in which our ministers can participate to increase cooperation in various fields between the two countries,” he added.

It is possible for the two countries to work together to establish new collaborations in areas such as energy, tourism, and technology, Erdogan said.

​- ‘Negative attitudes’ toward Putin, grain deal

Regarding the international community's reaction to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said heads of state and government have a "negative attitude" toward the Russian leader.

“I do not find these attitudes correct because Russia is not an ordinary country,” he stressed.

Russia has an important place in the world, both in terms of its size and strategic importance, he emphasized.

“At the moment, Russia is one of the top grain producers in the world,” he stated, adding: “You can't ignore such a country.”

Recalling the Black Sea grain deal and what has been done as part of it, the Turkish president expressed hope that there would still be a possibility to increase the amount of grain shipped, adding, "We will discuss these matters with Putin."

“We will also discuss this matter with Qatar, as well,” he said.

Amid efforts to continue Ukrainian agricultural exports after the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal in July, Kyiv and its partners have been looking for land routes to reach world markets from the war-ravaged country.

Russia refused to extend the grain deal, complaining that the West had not met its obligations and that there were still restrictions on its own food and fertilizer exports. Moscow was particularly critical of the restrictions on payments, logistics, and insurance.

Last year, the UN and Türkiye brokered the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to ship grain via the Black Sea and succeeded in bringing down global food prices.

- Northern Cyprus should be recognized as an independent state

Concerning the Cyprus issue, Erdogan said Ankara's position has been clear for a long time.

“It has now become clearly understood that the federation formulas are unrealistic and will not work,” the Turkish president asserted, adding that “to deny this fact is nothing more than to impose insolubility on the Island.”

“We have made efforts to find a two-state, fair, and permanent solution in Cyprus. We also invited our interlocutors to provide this.

“We have also made another invitation to the international community,” he recalled.

“The recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an independent state is the only step that will contribute to the resolution of the Cyprus problem, and it is the most effective step,” he suggested.

"We don't see any other options. We are determined to protect the TRNC's rights to the end, within the framework of the guarantor right granted to us by international law," he stressed.

“We are waiting for the continuation of the door opened by the TRNC's accession to the Organization of Turkic States as an observer member. The recognition of the TRNC as an independent state by the countries one after the other serves peace and tranquility in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Erdogan said.

“Our next roadmap is also the effective steps to be taken towards the complete protection of the rights of the TRNC and its integration into the international system,” he said.

- Divided island

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.​​​​​​​