Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defense Minister Simon Harris on Monday during an official visit to Dublin, Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry shared images of the meeting on social media, noting that the two counterparts discussed bilateral ties and cooperation.
As part of his visit, Fidan also met with Senator Alison Comyn, organizer of the Ireland-Türkiye Friendship Group, and other group members.
Fidan was expected to reiterate Türkiye's expectation that Ireland, which assumes the rotating European Union presidency in the second half of 2026, will support efforts to advance Türkiye-EU relations. Defense cooperation will also be on the agenda, with Ankara stressing that Türkiye’s inclusion in the SAFE mechanism is a geostrategic necessity and voicing openness to new partnerships with Ireland in the defense industry.
Türkiye values Ireland’s principled stance on the Palestinian question. Dublin, long a supporter of the two-state solution, formally recognized Palestine in May last year. Ireland also joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this year and introduced a draft bill banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Fidan is expected to call for intensified joint efforts to advance a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
