Meeting in New York: Turkey and Austria Strengthen Bilateral Relations
In the course of his stay at the UN General Assembly in New York, Federal President Van der Bellen met Turkish President Erdogan. Among the topics discussed were the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and Turkey's role as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
Bilateral relations between Turkey and Austria have steadily improved in recent months. / Picture: © Österreichische Präsidentschaftskanzlei / Peter Lechner/HBF
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen strengthened bilateral relations with Turkey during his stay in New York. As Vindobona already reported, the President is currently at the UN General Assembly together with the Austrian Chancellor Nehammer and the Foreign Minister Schallenberg.
During the meeting of the two statesmen, Van der Bellen thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his efforts as a mediator in the Ukraine war.
At the meeting in the course of the UN General Assembly, the Austrian President assured that the bilateral relations between the two countries had "developed very positively" in recent years and was pleased about this. He said: "It is important to maintain this momentum. That's why it was important for me to also meet the Turkish President during my New York visit."
Van der Bellen also added that he was grateful to Erdogan for his commitment "to seek solutions to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine", the Federal President let it be known. "However, the current development must be taken very seriously. Now it is all the more a matter of international unity and determination", Van der Bellen said.
Die bilateralen Beziehungen zw. #Österreich und der #Türkei haben sich in diesem Jahr sehr positiv entwickelt. Es gilt diese Dynamik aufrecht zu erhalten. Deshalb war es mir wichtig, im Rahmen meines New York-Besuchs auch den türkischen Präsidenten @RTErdogan zu treffen. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/zaA88GCs5F
— A. Van der Bellen (@vanderbellen) September 21, 2022
Turkey maintains close relations with both Ukraine and Russia and sees itself as a mediator between the two parties. With the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, both warring parties had agreed in early summer to resume the export of grain from three blockaded Ukrainian ports.
The atmosphere between Vienna and Ankara had been frosty for a long time, especially during Sebastian Kurz's time as Foreign Minister and Chancellor. In recent weeks, however, there have been several bilateral meetings, also at government level.