Turkey’s Fidan holds talks in Russia ahead of BRICS summit

Ezgi Akin

Jun 10, 2024

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan meets with Sergei Shoigu, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, in Moscow, June 10, 2024. — Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs

ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Monday as part of a two-day visit to Russia, which will also take him to the BRICS+ summit.

Shoigu, who was removed from his post as the Russian defense minister last month by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, discussed with Fidan regional developments including Gaza, Syria and the southern Caucasus, according to Turkish diplomatic sources. As part of his visit, Fidan also attended a meeting of the Russian-Turkish Businessmen Association and met with representatives of Meskhetian Turks living in Russia, a Sunni Muslim Turkic community.

On Tuesday, Turkey’s top diplomat is planning to attend the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in the Western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod.

Announcing his attendance at the BRICS meeting during his visit to Beijing last week, Fidan said Turkey was exploring new cooperation opportunities with the China-led bloc.