Erdoğan set to meet Putin, Biden in back-to-back summits
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to engage in a series of high-stakes diplomatic meetings, starting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and followed by U.S. President Joe Biden during a busy early July itinerary.
Following the conclusion of Eid al-Adha, Erdoğan will embark on official visits to three countries.
His first stop will be Kazakhstan, where he will attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the capital Astana starting July 3.
The summit will address Türkiye's relations with SCO member states, with a particular focus on energy and trade.
Particularly, Erdoğan's meeting with Putin is expected to cover critical issues including the war in Ukraine, a key grain deal and Türkiye's first nuclear power plant in Mersin, built by Russia's state atomic energy company, Rosatom.
They are also expected to discuss the construction of a second nuclear power plant and a planned natural gas hub in Türkiye.
The SCO is also set to welcome Belarus as a full member, expanding its membership to ten.
Erdoğan then will travel to Azerbaijan on July 5 to participate in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit in the Shusha city. The summit's agenda includes enhancing trade activities among Turkic states and taking steps toward regional normalization.
The president's diplomatic tour will then proceed to Washington, where he will attend a NATO summit from July 9 to 11.
At the gathering, Erdoğan is expected to deliver a strong condemnation of Israel's ongoing attacks in Gaza, media reports say.
He will also hold bilateral meetings with various leaders, including a planned meeting with U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to discuss bilateral relations and global issues.
Erdoğan will conclude his tour with a visit to Turkish Cyprus on July 20, where he will attend a ceremony in Nicosia to commemorate Türkiye's 1974 military operation on the island.
This event will also see the attendance of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel.
The encounter will follow a series of recent meetings between Erdoğan and Özel, marking the first direct engagement between ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and CHP leaders since 2016.
Özel visited Erdoğan at the AKP headquarters on May 2, followed by Erdoğan's return visit to the CHP leader on June 11.
The recent meetings, labeled as "softening" by Erdoğan and "normalization" by Özel, have led to a series of dialogues between ministers and their CHP counterparts.
Recent discussions included Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Mehmet Özhaseki with CHP's Gökan Zeybek, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan with CHP's İlhan Uzgel and Defense Minister Yaşar Güler with CHP's Yankı Bağcıoğlu. The latest meeting took place on June 10 between Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and CHP's Murat Bakan.