President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said global developments show how critical Türkiye is for Europe.

"In fact, every development in the world reveals the fact that Türkiye is indispensable for the European Union and the European region," Erdoğan told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

Erdoğan's remarks came after his visit last week to the Czech capital Prague to attend the first European Political Community meeting to convey Türkiye's views, contributions, and assessments of the challenges Europe faces in terms of peace and security, energy, the climate, and the economy.

The president said during the gathering he had sideline meetings with a number of leaders, including Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

During his meetings in Prague, Erdoğan told others that Türkiye wants to solve problems in the Aegean and Mediterranean within the framework of international law.

Erdogan urged the EU to call on Greece to enter dialogue on a bilateral basis instead of supporting illegal initiatives masquerading as unity or solidarity.

He added that the leaders at the Prague summit praised Ankara's mediation role between Russia and Ukraine.

Most recently, Türkiye enabled a prisoner swap between the warring countries.

One of the most important outcomes of Turkish mediation was when Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen certain Ukrainian ports to release grain that had been stuck for months because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war – a development that has been crucial in responding to a growing global food crisis.

Türkiye is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis.

With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.

In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month, with casualties piling up on both sides.

Türkiye also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya in March.