Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu attended the ceremony in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took the oath of office on Sunday as Brazil's first democratically elected president to win three terms, with the participation of more than a dozen heads of state.
“Attended oath-taking ceremony of @LulaOfficial, President of #Brazil. Conveyed President Erdoğan’s message of congratulations,” Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter on Monday, sharing pictures of him attending the ceremony.
The 77-year-old veteran leftist, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, capping a remarkable political comeback for the metalworker-turned-president less than five years after he was jailed on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges.
Brazil is Türkiye’s biggest trading partner in Latin America.
Although Türkiye has had diplomatic contact with Latin American countries since the 19th century, relations remained stagnant due to geographical distance up until the early 2000s. However, with the establishment of the Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean in 1998 and the declaration of 2006 as the Year of Latin America and the Caribbean in Türkiye, relations gained new momentum. From that point on, the two sides began to pay reciprocal official visits. Brazil even built a strategic partnership with Türkiye to strengthen relations, and in 2006 the Türkiye-Brazil High-Level Cooperation Commission was established. Türkiye also uses soft power, including soap operas, humanitarian aid, cultural cooperation, and more to enhance its ties with the region.
Çavuşoğlu on Saturday also discussed bilateral relations with his counterparts from Gabon, Brazil and Guatemala.
In a Twitter post, Çavuşoğlu said he met with Michael Moussa-Adamo, the foreign minister of Gabon, and discussed economic, defense relations and cooperation between the ministries.
The Turkish foreign minister also met with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira.
Mario Bucaro, Guatemala's foreign minister, and Çavuşoğlu also held a meeting in Brazil, and discussed economic, defense and cultural relations.
