Ambassador: Belarus, Türkiye have a long history of friendly relations

Belarus and Türkiye have always maintained friendly relations, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Türkiye to the Republic of Belarus Mustafa Özcan said as he met with Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko in Minsk on 3 March, BelTA has learned.

“Relations between Belarus and Türkiye have always been friendly. Belarus has demonstrated its friendship and support again these days, when very powerful, devastating earthquakes rocked Türkiye. Belarus was one of the first to express its solidarity and provide assistance. And I take this opportunity to express gratitude to Belarus on behalf of my government and the country,” Mustafa Özcan said.

According to him, relations between Belarus and Türkiye have been consistently positive. “That became particularly obvious after the visit of the president of Türkiye to Belarus in 2016. It is also important to recall the visit of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to Türkiye in 2019. We continue to work, promote cooperation and make every diplomatic effort to solve the problems that arise in the region and in the world,” the ambassador said.

“Our number one priority is to mitigate the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes that shook the Republic of Türkiye. The earthquakes affected 11 Turkish provinces. We are grateful to Belarus for its support and assistance, to people who brought flowers to the embassy and expressed words of support sharing our pain. This helped a bit to cope with this shock,” Mustafa Özcan added. “Türkiye remains determined to implement peace initiatives, to use diplomacy and keep all channels open for dialogue in order to restore peace in the region and the world,” the ambassador said.