On July 19, Erdoğan attended a trilateral Astana format meeting on Syria with the leaders of Iran and Russia in Tehran.
They discussed recent developments in Syria, the fight against terrorist groups which pose a threat to regional security, and the voluntary return of Syrians.
The leaders condemned the increased presence and activities of terrorist groups and their affiliates under different names in various parts of Syria.
Three days later, on July 22, Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports for the export of Ukrainian grain, which had been stuck for months due to the war, which began in February.
To oversee the grain shipments, a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul opened on July 27, comprising representatives from the three countries and the United Nations.
Moving on, on Aug. 5, President Erdoğan headed to the Russian city of Sochi to discuss bilateral ties and regional and international issues.
Following a four-hour meeting between Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, a joint statement acknowledged that constructive bilateral relations played a role in reaching the historic deal.
“Türkiye attaches importance to cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism,” Erdoğan added.
President Erdoğan then met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Ukraine’s Lviv city on Thursday.
On the day-long visit, President Erdoğan and Zelenskyy along with Guterres also held a trilateral summit to discuss steps to end the war through diplomatic means and maintain the mechanism established for the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets.
On his way on return, Erdoğan underlined Türkiye is ready to contribute to ending the Russia-Ukraine war through diplomacy and invited both leaders for a meeting in Türkiye.
“I stated that we will continue to contribute to the solution to the war through diplomacy and negotiations.
“Just as I told (Russian President Vladimir) Putin during my Sochi visit, I reminded (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy that we could host the meeting between them,” Erdoğan told Turkish press members on board the presidential plane following a one-day working visit to Ukraine.
“We also evaluated the possibilities of transforming the positive atmosphere created by the Istanbul agreement into a permanent peace,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan said Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Nations discussed steps that can be taken for Ukrainian grain exports and called on the international community to assume responsibility to revive the diplomatic process.
Erdoğan said he has separately met with Zelenskyy and Putin since the war started, adding that Türkiye will bring this issue at the U.N. General Assembly in September.
“The messages to be conveyed there are very, very meaningful. The messages that we and other countries will give there are very important,” he said.
During the trilateral meeting in Lviv, Erdoğan raised his concern about the ongoing conflict around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and said: “We do not want to experience a new Chernobyl.”
He told reporters that the Zaporizhzhia issue is not an “ordinary issue,” noting that Ukraine has both its own technical staff and soldiers in Zaporizhzhia.
Erdoğan also said Zelenskyy demanded the removal of Russian mines from the area.
“We will discuss this issue with Putin, and we will especially ask him for this so that Russia should do its part in this regard as an important step for world peace,” he added.
Phone diplomacy
The Turkish president also held phone conversations with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Besides, he hosted Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor and Malaysian King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah in the Turkish capital Ankara.
His phone call with Herzog had a special importance due to the recent Turkish-Israeli decision to mutually appoint ambassadors after four years.
The Türkiye-Israel ties will gain new momentum after the appointment of ambassadors, Erdoğan told his Israeli counterpart Herzog in the phone call.
The Turkish and Israeli presidents discussed bilateral relations and regional issues over the phone and Erdoğan expressed that Ankara is in favor of developing cooperation and dialogue on the basis of respect for mutual sensitivities.
Mutually appointing ambassadors is “an important step” toward the positive development of Türkiye-Israel relations, Erdoğan underlined.
Meanwhile, Herzog said on Twitter that he spoke with Erdoğan on the occasion of the restoration of full diplomatic relations, the return of ambassadors and consuls-general, and the resumption of Israeli flights to Türkiye.
“We welcomed the development and expressed our hopes for future progress,” he added.
Herzog also thanked Erdoğan for his “critical contribution” to the agreement for the export of grain from Ukraine and for his recent meetings with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.
Last week, Türkiye and Israel decided to fully restore diplomatic ties, and reappoint ambassadors after over four years.
Türkiye and Israel will mutually reappoint ambassadors, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced.
“The steps we would take to normalize relations include mutually reappointing of ambassadors … Türkiye decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel, to Tel Aviv,” he told a news conference with his Kyrgyz counterpart Jeenbek Kulubaev in Ankara.
Çavuşoğlu said the process will begin with determining who will be appointed.
“We will continue to defend the rights of Palestine, Jerusalem and Gaza, and it is important that our messages are conveyed directly to Tel Aviv at the ambassador level,” the foreign minister added.
Herzog’s visit to Türkiye in March, followed by reciprocal visits by both countries’ foreign ministers, contributed to easing relations after more than a decade of tensions.