Türkiye determined to send grain to Africa via Black Sea corridor: President Erdogan

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye is resolute to send grain and flour to African countries via the Black Sea grain corridor, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin told me: 'I'll give you the grain for free, and you deliver it to poor African countries.' And we say: 'Okay. We'll get this for free from you. Let's turn it into flour in our factories, and send it to these poor African countries.' We agreed," Erdogan on Saturday said at an event in the southern Antalya province.

But, said Erdogan, 44% of Ukrainian grain is sent to Europe.

"We are determined and we will make an effort to send these products to African countries from this grain corridor," he added.

In July last year, Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. A Joint Coordination Center with officials from the three countries and the UN was set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.

The first ship carrying grain departed on Aug. 1, 2022 from the Ukrainian port of Odesa under the historic deal.

Türkiye, internationally praised for its unique mediator role between Ukraine and Russia, has repeatedly called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations.

Erdogan said Türkiye is doing its part to find a solution to the Russia-Ukraine war as opposed to those who "are helping arms dealers."

"We are putting effort to achieve world peace. On the same day, we are talking both with Putin and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy. We are making an effort to see how we can reconcile them. We continue on our way by showing this sincerity because we know that the world can only rise on peace," he added.