Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Bratislava on 7-8 October 2020 to participate in the 15th annual Bratislava Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC).
Before leaving for Slovakia Minister Çavuşoğlu had a videoconference meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Riad Malki on 7 October 2020.
Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that we would work together against attempts to undermine the two-state solution and international parameters, that we supported the Palestinian reconciliation and were ready to assist in the elections, and that we would always stand by our Palestinian brothers and sisters.
Later on the same day in Bratislava, Minister Çavuşoğlu first inaugurated the Bratislava Turkish Military Cemetery and Monument with Foreign and European Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok of Slovakia, in honor of the memory of our martyrs we lost in the Galicia front. Minister Çavuşoğlu emphasized that our martyrs would live forever in friendly Slovakia, and that he commemorated all our martyrs with respect, gratitude and mercy.
Then, Minister Çavuşoğlu had a fruitful meeting with his Slovak counterpart Ivan Korcok, and evaluated our relations and regional developments particularly related to the Eastern Mediterranean, European Union and Armenia’s aggression.
Minister Çavuşoğlu also expressed that cooperation opportunities in defence, education and science were discussed during the meeting, and that we were keeping the 5 billion Dollars target for our bilateral trade volume.
On the same day, Minister Çavuşoğlu met with Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi of Kazakhstan and discussed our relations thoroughly including investments, education and health.
Recent developments in brotherly Kyrgyzstan and Armenia’s aggression were also evaluated in the meeting, and Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that we would further develop our cooperation with Kazakhstan in multilateral fora, including the Turkic Council.
On 8 October 2020, Minister Çavuşoğlu had an interview in GLOBSEC on “Turkey’s Role in Regional and Global Security” and shared our views on Armenia’s aggression, recent situation in Libya, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus issue, Turkey’s EU membership process, our approach to NATO and our relations with the Russian Federation.
Afterwards, Minister Çavuşoğlu held a meeting with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany and discussed our relations and recent developments on Eastern Mediterranean, Libya and Armenia’s aggression.
Minister Çavuşoğlu underlined that we would not allow Turkey-EU relations be taken hostage by Greece and Greek Cypriots with their maximalist approaches.
Later that day, Minister Çavuşoğlu met shortly with Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias of Greece on the sidelines of the Forum, and stated that we would determine the dates of the Exploratory Talks and meetings for Confidence Building Measures in the coming days.
Minister Çavuşoğlu also met with First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Emine Dzheppar of Ukraine.
Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that Turkey was one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, that we would never recognize the illegal anexation of Crimea and that we would always stand by the Crimean Tatars.
Finally, Minister Çavuşoğlu held a productive meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto of Hungary.
Minister Çavuşoğlu stressed that preparations were underway for the 7th Joint Economic Commission meeting, and that we appreciated Hungary’s active engagement with the Turkic Council.
