Deputy FM attends Ukraine Reform Conference

Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal attended the international Ukraine Reform Conference in Toronto where Kiev's reform process is being discussed. "Turkey has been supporting the reform process in Ukraine since the outset and contributing to the international community's efforts in this regard," a Turkey's foreign ministry statement said on Monday.

The Ukraine Reform Conference is an annual international event, taking place this year from July 2 to July 4, dedicated to an expert discussion on the progress of reforms in Ukraine. "It is an important step to unite Ukraine's international partners and friends, and to assess the democratic transformations and reforms, that have been taking place in the country since 2014," a Ukrainian government statement said.

Decentralization reform and Ukraine's integration process into the Euro-Atlantic community are among the main topics of the conference. This year's conference came at a time between the presidential and parliamentary elections in the country. Ukraine held presidential runoff elections on April 21 where Volodymyr Zelenskiy secured a landslide win with 73.2 percent of the votes, against former President Petro Poroshenko. Parliamentary elections will be held on July 21. Deputy Minister Ambassador Önal will also hold bilateral meetings in the margins of the conference with a number of interlocutors and partners, including his counterparts from host country Canada.