Turkey to temporarily sit out MIKTA meeting in Seoul

SEOUL – Anadolu Agency

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Reuters Photo

The fledgling group of MIKTA, which includes Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea (ROK), Turkey and Australia, nations broke new ground July 1, with the first meeting of their parliamentary leaders in the South Korean capital.

Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia formed the MIKTA association in 2013.

All top 20 global economies, they aim to boost cooperation while dealing with serious security threats, from Syria to North Korea.

MIKTA might also be seen as an alternative to other groups, such as the BRICS association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

But Turkey has been left without a representative in Seoul this time around, having not yet chosen a new parliamentary speaker after recent elections.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu was in Seoul for May, however, when he and his counterparts agreed to push for a summit of their countries’ leaders within the year.

Hosted by South Korea’s Yun Byung-se, they also drew up plans to boost economic ties during this October’s inaugural MIKTA Business Forum in Istanbul.

While there have already been five MIKTA foreign ministers’ meetings, July 1 was the start of an opportunity to develop closer parliamentary cooperation. The gathering in Seoul will continue until July 5.