President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will on Thursday embark on a two-day visit to Uzbekistan to attend the annual Heads of State Council summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and meet world leaders in southeastern Samarkand.
The Turkish leader will address the second session of the summit and take part in a group photo.
Established in 2001, the eight-member organization aims to strengthen friendly, good neighbor relations and mutual trust among member states. Türkiye was approved as one of six "dialogue partners" in 2012.
Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the grain export deal, which was struck on July 22 through the mediation of Türkiye and the United Nations and cleared the way for the export of desperately needed grain and fertilizer, ending a wartime standoff that threatened food security around the globe. The deal expires in November after 120 days and can be renewed.
Ukraine was one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of the country and naval blockade of its ports had halted shipments.
Erdoğan has recently said that Russian grain should also be exported to facilitate export to poor countries.
On the other side, following mediation in the grain corridor deal, Erdoğan has also stated that Türkiye could mediate regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The Turkish president said he wanted to avoid "another Chernobyl," referring to the world's worst nuclear accident in another part of Ukraine in 1986 when it was still part of the Soviet Union.
Bilateral issues as well as the Syrian and Libyan conflicts are also expected to be on the two leaders’ agenda.
During his visit to Samarkand, Erdoğan will on Thursday attend a sapling planting event, and tour the newly built areas of the city.
After his visit to Uzbekistan, the president will fly to New York, U.S. to attend the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly, a statement by the presidency said Wednesday.
He will address the General Assembly on Sept. 20, 2022, and will also meet with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, as well as several heads of state.
The president is also expected to meet with representatives of Turkish NGOs, business organizations and Jewish organizations in the U.S.