“Russian presidential election – hope after local elections in Turkiye”
Erdogan makes his first official visit to Egypt in 12 years on the 14th
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Turkye, originally scheduled for the middle of this month, has been postponed.
RIA Novosti news agency reported on the 13th (local time) that President Putin’s visit could take place after at least the end of April, citing sources in Turkicye.
“Preparations are underway for President Putin’s visit,” the source said, adding, “The specific date has not been set.”
He said, “I hope the visit will take place after the Russian and Turkic elections.”
Russia will hold presidential elections from March 15th to 17th, and local elections in Türkiye will be held on March 31st.
A Turkic diplomatic source predicted that President Putin’s visit “could take place in late April or early May.”
Prior to this, some foreign media reported that President Putin plans to visit Türkiye on the 12th of this month, citing an anonymous Türkiye official.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week, “The date of President Putin’s visit will be decided taking into account the Russian presidential election and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Türkiye’s schedule,” and the visit did not take place on the 12th.
If President Putin’s visit to Turkye goes through, it will be his first visit to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Meanwhile, President Erdogan will attend the World Government Summit (WGS) being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the 12th to the 13th, and then make an official visit to Egypt on the 14th to meet with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Sisi.
It has been 12 years since President Erdogan visited Egypt. The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 2013 when Egypt ousted then-President Mohammed Mursi and designated the Muslim Brotherhood, which Turkiye had supported, as a terrorist organization, and have been working to restore relations since 2020.
President Erdogan plans to discuss a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian Hamas war in Egypt and the delivery of relief goods to the Gaza Strip, and is also reported to have the possibility of visiting Rafah, the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.