Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S.Aleinik meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye

On November 7, 2023 in the course of his official visit to the Republic of Turkiye the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Sergei Aleinik, held talks with his counterpart, Foreign Minister of Turkiye Hakan Fidan.

The parties stated that Belarus and Turkiye have built a multilevel system of cooperation over the more than 30-year history of diplomatic relations. The Heads of the two states are in contact, the Governments, Parliaments, Ministries cooperate. In this regard, it was noted that this is the third meeting of the Foreign Ministers over the past four months.

A number of bilateral issues were discussed. Trade and economic relations, which are developing dynamically, were given priority attention. Over the past two years, the trade turnover between the two countries has steadily exceeded 1 billion U.S. dollars. According to Turkish data, by the end of this year it will exceed $1.5 billion. In this regard, an important topic of the meeting was the systematisation of the entire volume of bilateral trade and activation of mechanisms in the fields of logistics, transport, agriculture and others. All these issues will be discussed in depth at the 11th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation scheduled for  November 8, 2023.

In the political block, the schedule of prospective contacts at various levels was considered.

The interlocutors noted the similarity of views on the majority of topical international issues. In this context, they emphasised the responsible attitude of Belarus and Turkiye to the issue of food security. The sides noted the positive efforts of the Turkish side in achieving and implementing the so-called grain deal. In this light, S.Aleinik stressed the criminal nature of the illegal sanctions imposed by the EU and the U.S. on the supply and transit of Belarusian potash fertilisers, without which it is impossible to solve the problem of hunger at a time when, according to the UN, it is relevant for three quarters of the world's population. 

The Belarusian Foreign Minister also noted that Minsk and Ankara had been calling and insisting on its cessation as soon as possible since the very first days of the conflict in Ukraine.

The meeting also expressed concern about the sharp aggravation of the situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the large-scale escalation of hostilities, which has resulted in numerous casualties among the civilian population. 

The Belarusian Foreign Minister emphasised that any conflicts should be resolved politically and diplomatically: "We have repeatedly said that if not stopped now, the conflict may lead to irreparable consequences for the region and the whole world."

In addition, the sides discussed cooperation in culture, healthcare, scientific and technical collaboration, and the development of contacts between youth organisations of the two countries.

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