Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto visited Ankara

During his one-day visit on 8 February, Minister Haavisto met the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament Akif Çağatay Kılıç, and representatives of civil society organisations and think tanks. He also gave a lecture on security policy at Ankara University.

Minister Haavisto started his day in Ankara with a visit to the Embassy, where he shortly met the staff over a cup of coffee before heading to many other meetings of the day.

In the meeting with Minister Çavuşoğlu, the ministers discussed bilateral matters, European security situation, and regional topics. Minister Haavisto described the discussion as excellent and fruitful and emphasized the value of regular open and direct discussions with his Turkish colleague.

In his lecture at Ankara University, Minister Haavisto focused on the current security situation in Europe and discussed the topic with students. Students participated actively in the discussion with challenging questions and raised issues such as climate change and broader security questions.

 

 

Minister Haavisto also met representatives of Turkish civil society and think tanks. The discussions with NGO representatives covered for example women’s rights, LGBT rights, and the human rights situation in Turkey.

The visit was successful, as three new honorary consuls will be appointed, the first meeting of the Joint Trade and Economic Commission (JETCO) will take place in June, and the cooperation will continue closer in the future for example in the form of staff consultations.

The Embassy of Finland would like to thank the Foreign Ministry of Turkey for its support in the arrangements.