Turkish President Erdoğan begins official talks in Slovakia


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began official talks with President Andrej Kiska in the Slovakian capital Bratislava on Tuesday.

Erdoğan is in Slovakia as part of his second stop during his official European tour. He is expected to visit Romania on Wednesday.

Earlier, Kiska welcomed the Turkish president at an official ceremony, where Slovakian youth offered Erdoğan bread and salt as part of their local tradition.

Erdoğan and Kiska are expected to hold a joint press conference later in the day.

Turkey will not give a chance to those who want to divide the country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday.Erdoğan, who arrived in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava early Tuesday as part of his second stop on his official European tour, made the remarks in his address to Turkish citizens.The citizens had turned up outside Erdoğan's hotel to warmly welcome their president."In my country, my Turkish brothers and Kurdish brothers have some problems. In addition, the Circassian, Abkhazians, Bosnians, Albanians who live in Turkey have some problems too. Some are willing to divide Turkey. We won't give them a chance to achieve this bad goal. We will remain in solidarity," the president said.Last week, Erdoğan said that Turkey did not face a Kurdish problem, but that the country's Kurdish population might have problems. He reiterated his stance during his Slovakia's visit as well.About the upcoming Turkish general elections, he asked Turkish citizens living in European countries to make use of their votes. "The ballot box is our honor; we will definitely use our voting rights."Turkey is due to hold elections on June 7 this year. Turkish people living in more than 50 countries can vote in Turkey's general election. A total of 250,000 people out of Turkey's 2.7 million expat voters had earlier registered to cast their ballot at embassies and consulates.Erdoğan is expected to visit Romania on Wednesday.