By Ahmet Gencturk
ATHENS (AA) – Swedish premier on Friday evening announced that he has assigned a former prime minister to attend Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony slated for Saturday in the Turkish capital Ankara.
“I have assigned former Prime Minister Carl Bildt to represent Sweden at the inauguration ceremony of Türkiye’s re-elected President Erdogan in Ankara tomorrow,” said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Twitter.
He added that he is “looking forward to strengthened bilateral relations with Türkiye.”
Türkiye went to the polls on May 28 for a presidential runoff election after no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote needed for an outright victory in the first round on May 14.
Erdogan won with 52.18% of the vote, while opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.82%, according to official results.
Carl Bildt, 74, acted as Swedish prime minister from 1991 to 1994, and foreign minister from 2009 to 2014.
As a foreign minister, he was an active supporter of Türkiye’s EU membership.