Erdoğan ready for first international appearance as president
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan is set for his first international appearances after taking office on Aug. 28, including participation at the key NATO Summit and bilateral visits to Northern Cyprus and Azerbaijan.
ErdoÄanâs itinerary this week begins with a one-day trip to Northern Cyprus, in line with the tradition followed by Turkish statesmen who come to office. He will meet Turkish Cypriot President DerviÅ EroÄlu and other high ranking officials today, where he will reiterate Turkeyâs support to the ongoing reunification talks between Turkish and Greek Cypriots and will urge Greek Cypriots not to further delay the process.
ErdoÄanâs second trip abroad will be to Azerbaijan. He is expected to depart to Baku tomorrow and will meet with Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev the following day. Turkey and Azerbaijan have recently intensified economy and energy relations after Azerbaijanâs state company SOCAR put billions of dollars of investments into Turkey. The two countries are currently working on the realization of a major pipeline project, the TANAP, to transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe via Turkey.
The new president's visit to Baku will also touch on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which also affects Ankara-Yerevan relations. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian was in Turkey last week to attend ErdoÄan's inauguration as president and used the venue as an opportunity to submit a letter of invitation to ErdoÄan for the next yearâs centennial anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey has not yet responded to the invitation.
ErdoÄan will then directly go to Wales from Baku to attend the NATO...
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