Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is set to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital Ankara on Tuesday. Ahead of his visit, he said Turkey is very important for the defense of NATO's eastern flank amid Russia's war on Ukraine.

Rutte spoke after a Cabinet meeting on Friday and said he will visit Turkey on March 22 ahead of an extraordinary NATO leaders' summit March 24, which will discuss the war.

In his speech, Rutte underlined the importance of NATO member countries continuing to have intense discussions with each other and said, "Turkey is very important for the defense of its eastern flank."

Stating that Germany is one of the few European countries that have close contact with Turkey, Rutte noted that more countries should adopt this approach.

Rutte emphasized that Turkey is one of the few countries in contact with both Moscow and Kyiv in the Russia-Ukraine war, therefore, he spoke with Erdoğan about visiting Ankara in a recent telephone call.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Turkey last week and met with Erdoğan.

Turkey will resolutely maintain its efforts for a permanent cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, Erdoğan said after the talks.

Speaking at a joint news conference in the capital Ankara with Scholz, Erdoğan said Turkey and Germany had agreed to step up diplomatic efforts to solve the Ukraine war crisis while also taking measures to protect European security.

"We place importance on working in close cooperation with Germany on regional matters. Recent developments in our region have proven that Turkey has a key role in many areas, security and energy in particular," Erdoğan said.

"We as two NATO allies have reaffirmed our shared views and concerns (on the Russia-Ukraine issue). We have agreed that diplomatic efforts for a resolution should be sped up while taking necessary measures for the security of Europe," he added.

Also pointing to the tensions between Turkey and the Netherlands in recent years, Rutte said, "Personal relations have always remained good."

In 2018, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said it had formally withdrawn its ambassador to Turkey, who has been physically barred from the country for almost a year, over a dispute that began in March 2017.

The relations between Turkey and the Netherlands were sharply undermined after Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was barred from entering the country, and former Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was barred from entering the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam after arriving from Germany and deported after a confrontation with the Dutch police.

The incident occurred shortly before the Dutch general elections on March 15, 2017, and the Turkish constitutional reform and presidential system referendum on April 16 the same year.

Turkey withdrew its ambassador to The Hague after the incident, while Dutch Ambassador Cornelis Van Rij, who was recalled to the Netherlands for consultations after Ankara asked him not to return for a while, was not allowed back into Turkey. The Dutch Foreign Ministry finally withdrew the envoy in February.

On July 20, 2018, Turkey and the Netherlands decided to normalize bilateral relations and have restored full formal diplomatic ties.