Turkish president due in US following regional summit in Uzbekistan

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will embark Thursday on a two-day visit to Uzbekistan to attend a regional summit and later head to the US to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

In a statement, Türkiye’s Communications Directorate said Wednesday that upon the invitation of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Erdogan will visit the historic city of Samarkand on Sept. 15-16 to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a special guest.

Türkiye will be participating at the presidential level for the first time since Ankara obtained dialogue partner status at the SCO in 2012, the statement added.

Erdogan is expected to address the second session of the summit and hold bilateral meetings.

Established in 2001, the eight-member organization aims to strengthen friendly, good neighbor relations and mutual trust among member states. Türkiye was approved as one of six “dialogue partners” in 2012.

- US visit

Following the summit, Erdogan will head to the US to attend the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which will be held with the theme “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges,” the statement said.

Erdogan is expected to address the participants on Sept. 20, the first day of the 77th General Assembly's General Debate, it added.

The Turkish president is expected to meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and hold bilateral meetings with several heads of state and government.

Erdogan is also expected to receive representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations and Jewish organizations based in the US on the occasion of his visit between Sept. 17-22 and to attend an event to be organized by the Turkish-American Business Council with the participation of representatives of the US business world.

The General Assembly kicked off its 77th session on Sept. 13. The high-level meeting will be held between Sept. 16 and 26, bringing together leaders from all 193 member states.