Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he will meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, face to face, to discuss the issue of grain transportation across the Black Sea and the war in Ukraine.
He said in a statement he made to reporters during his return from Hungary, which he visited on Sunday, “We’ll talk with Putin face to face, and it is possible that our Foreign Minister, Mr. Hakan Fidan will visit Russia soon”.
“It’s very important that talks take place face to face,” Erdoğan added.
Erdoğan responded to a question regarding the roadmap that will be followed to resume work on the grain deal initiative, which he answered, “Our goal in the phone calls we had with Mr. Putin is to obtain a positive position from Moscow on the issue of the grain corridor”.
He added, “There is a meeting of the G20 in India and another meeting of the United Nations General Assembly next September, and if we find the opportunity during this intense agenda, we will meet with Mr. Putin and we will talk face to face”.
Erdoğan confirmed that Türkiye is striving to hold peace negotiations again between Russia and Ukraine, and that the talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Türkiye and the NATO summit included that matter.
He expressed his hope that the Russian and Ukrainian leaders would reach positive results with Turkish mediation.
Regarding Sweden’s membership in NATO, he stressed that Türkiye’s position as he referred to the demonstrations of the PKK organization supporters, which Türkiye consider it a terrorist organization, “It will be different if the assault on our sanctities continues and the streets of Stockholm aren’t controlled”.
The Turkish president pointed to the lack of an effective fight against terrorism in Sweden, stressing that sending protocols to join the Turkish parliament and passing the process quickly is directly proportional to Sweden’s fulfillment of its promises.
He added, “Our parliament will decide on this issue… We don’t know how long it will take to discuss it in parliament and the related committees”.
On the other hand, the Turkish president announced on Monday, that Türkiye is analyzing how to play its pivotal role in Niger.
The Turkish president said, in a statement to reporters, that his country doesn’t see the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene militarily in Niger is a right way, pointing out that a military intervention in Niger may contribute to spreading instability in many African countries.
He pointed out, “Mali and Burkina Faso have also warned that such a military intervention in Niger is tantamount to declaring war on them,” noting that no solution has been reached to the crisis in Niger so far.
He expressed his hope that a solution will be found to the crisis in Niger, and that Niger will reach a constitutional order and democratic administration as soon as possible,” expecting that the people of Niger will be interested in democracy and will go to elections as soon as possible.
