Turkish Foreign Policy

By. Justin Mays

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is always a major event for world politics and the 2021 edition marked an important moment for Turkish foreign policy with the inauguration of the 36 story Turkevi Center (Turkish House) in Manhattan across from the UN Headquarters in midtown with notable guests like U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attending. Turkey’s growing diplomatic strength is demonstrated through Turkey investment in the area and the visitors that were hosted in over the first week of the UNGA. President of the UNGA’s 75th session was Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozk?r who handed over the position this year. 

President Erdogan and Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and other important cabinet members were very active in meeting international delegations including high level officials from the UN and world leaders like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. 

Cavusoglu held separate meetings with his Colombian, Venezuelan, and Bahraini counterparts in New York. Commitments were made for new trade, investment, and health agreements with promised made to increase cooperation in the “fight against terrorism, organized crime and irregular migration."

A week prior to the UNGA, Cavusoglu met with Oliver Varhelyi, EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement to discuss EU-Turkey relations and restarting membership negotiations during his first visit to Turkey.

Turkey is increasingly active in the international arena and profiled in the international press daily with its vast influence over international affairs from conducting dialogue with Taliban officials to its oversized role in irregular migration and the refugee crisis to spearheading major regional economic and political deals.