Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued his diplomatic efforts for a cease-fire in the Russia-Ukraine war, the safe evacuation of civilians from the region, and the establishment of peace with meetings at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
After Russian began its war on Ukraine Feb. 24, Erdoğan chaired a security summit with a number of Cabinet ministers and key staffers at the Presidential Complex.
Then Erdoğan had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, with follow-ups on Feb. 26 and March 4. Erdoğan said they were pushing for a cease-fire to prevent further loss of life and prevent further damage to Ukraine.
Erdoğan also spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 6. During the call, Erdoğan told Putin that Turkey is ready to help solve the Ukraine issue by peaceful means as soon as possible.
On the Russia-Ukraine war, Erdoğan also held phone calls with a host of other world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Charles Michel.
In addition, Erdoğan exchanged views on the war with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani and Israeli President Isaac Herzog when they paid separate visits to the capital Ankara.
Erdoğan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev met in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday and discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine.
During the phone talk with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, Erdoğan said it is important that Turkey is in a facilitator position in search of a solution, in case the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens further.
Even organizing a tripartite meeting of Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers in Antalya is a diplomatic victory by itself, he stressed.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Erdoğan and Biden had a "constructive" meeting and Biden was very pleased with Turkey's diplomatic initiative.
Erdoğan made an opening speech at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey.
"The fact that the first high-level contact between Russia and Ukraine took place here shows that the Antalya Diplomacy Forum has begun to achieve its goal," he said.
"If the whole West had raised a clamor against the invasion of Crimea in 2014, would we be facing today's picture?" he added.
"Our hope is that moderation and common sense will prevail and the weapons will fall silent as soon as possible," he said of the war.
The main agenda of the forum included the efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and regional and bilateral relations.
Erdoğan also held talks with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Slovenian President Borut Pahor, and Kazakhstan's Founding President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the forum.
On Saturday, Erdoğan met with Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio, Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum, head of northern Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Masrour Barzani, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, Bosniak member of the Presidential Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sefik Dzaferovic, Serb member of the Presidency Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik, and Liberian President George Manneh Weah.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan will receive Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday in Istanbul, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday in Ankara.
Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 2.5 million people have fled to other countries, with some 2 million more displaced within the country.
At least 564 civilians have also been killed and 982 others injured in Ukraine, according to UN estimates.
While the EU, the US, and others have imposed sanctions on Moscow, many companies and global brands have also suspended operations in Russia.
