Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu paid an official visit to Australia in order to attend the G-20 Summit hosted by the G-20 Presidency of Australia.

Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu held numerous bilateral meetings during the G-20 Summit. Primarily, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu met with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on 15 November 2014 at a working breakfast. At the meeting, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu informed his Australian counterpart on Turkey’s priorities during its Presidency of the G-20 in 2015. The Foreign Ministers also discussed regional issues with particular focus on Syria and Iraq, cooperation in counter-terrorism, steps that are taken in order to prevent foreign fighters from reaching the region, and intelligence sharing. They also exchanged views regarding cooperation in international institutions and education.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu met with Argentinian Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. Turkey’s G-20 priorities, cooperation among the two countries in international institutions, direct flights to Argentina by Turkish Airlines and high-level visits in the next period were on the agenda of the meeting with his Argentinian counterpart. With his South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu exchanged views on cooperation in the international arena, especially steps that are taken in trade relations and defense issues as well as on the high level visits in the next period. Recent developments in Syria and Iraq were also discussed at the meetings.

Minister Çavuşoğlu also attended the first MIKTA meeting that was organized at the margins of the G-20 Summit. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Mexican Foreign Minister Antonio Meade Kuribrena and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi were also present at the meeting.

At the meeting, steps towards increasing the cooperation between member states within the framework of MIKTA and promotion of MIKTA as an institution on the international stage were discussed. Furthermore, views were exchanged on reciprocal training of diplomats, awarding scholarships to PhD students and establishment of a communication network between the scholars of MIKTA countries.

At the speech he delivered during the meeting, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu underlined the importance of regional ownership in the solution of problems and stated that MIKTA is a forum that facilitates taking joint steps regarding issues that are of concern to the entire World. Foreign Minister Davutoğlu also attended the lunch which was given to MIKTA Foreign Ministers following the meeting.