H.E. Mr. Rustam Minnihanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, will pay an official visit to Turkey on 30-31 May 2012 upon the invitation of H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.

This will be the first official visit at the Presidential level to be paid by Tatarstan to Turkey following the visits of H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic, and H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister, paid respectively on 12-15 February 2009 and 15-17 March 2011 to the Russian Federation and in this context to the Republic of Tatarstan.

It is envisaged that during his visit, President Minnihanov will meet with H.E. Mr. Gül, H.E. Mr. Erdoğan and H.E. Mr. Davutoğlu. It is also expected that President Minnihanov and H.E. Mr. Davutoğlu will watch together the concert to be held on the occasion of this visit at the Grand Theatre on the evening of 30 May. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the President will attend the “Turkey and Tatarstan Trade and Investment Forum” to be held on 31 May and organized by the Turkish Federation of Businessmen and Industrialists and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Republic of Tatarstan. The same day, the President is expected to inaugurate the statue of the famous Tatar Poet Abdullah Tukay at the Istanbul Eyüp Abdullah Tukay Park with H.E. Mr. Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

The visit is considered as a significant milestone for the further enhancement of existent relations between Turkey, the Russian Federation and the brotherly Republic of Tatarstan, one of the federated units making up the Russian Federation, with whom Turkey has deep-rooted historical and cultural ties.