Erdoğan vows to continue high-level diplomacy to stop Ukraine war

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he established contacts with leaders of around 20 countries in a bid to stop the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and vowed a more intensified diplomacy in the coming days to this end.

“I have held meetings with around 20 leaders about the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict and will do more,” Erdoğan said at a meeting on the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8 in the Turkish capital.

“I would like to express how important this is as it reminds us where Turkey stands,” he said.

Erdoğan recently spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone and urged his counterpart to open the path of peace with him. Following the conversation, Turkey announced that the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba, respectively, will come together at a meeting on March 10 in Antalya with the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

It will be the highest-level encounter between the two warring sides since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24.

Erdoğan recalled that he will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on March 9 and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on March 10 in Ankara, a day before he will attend the opening ceremony of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum between March 11 and 13. Erdoğan will also hold bilateral meetings with the participant heads of states and governments.

Erdoğan also stated that the ongoing Ukrainian crisis would have consequences both in security and economic conditions, but Turkey is one of the countries least affected by these.

Erdoğan recalled that some of the problems Turkey is suffering generates from global economic difficulties, especially hike in the oil and food prices, saying, “Those who are trying to garner dark clouds over the country are ill-intended. These are the times when the whole country should be united. We have to protect our unity and love each other. If we fail to do so, it will either be terrorists or enemies trying to take advantage out of it.”

Erdoğan also vowed that all precautions will be taken against stockpiling amid news of the shortage of sunflower oil due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. “We have no problems in regards to the supply of sunflower oil. But if there are those who stockpile them will pay it dearly before the court,” he said.