Turkish FM due to pay official visit to Moldova
Mevlut Cavusoglu to meet Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu, others on Thursday
ANKARA
The Turkish foreign minister is set to pay an official visit to Moldovan capital Chisinau on Thursday, said an official statement on Wednesday.
"Mevlut Cavusoglu will pay an official visit to Chisinau on 18 November 2021, upon the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, Nicu Popescu," read the Foreign Ministry statement.
Cavusoglu will meet Popescu, as well as President Maia Sandu, President of the Parliament Igor Grosu and Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, it said.
Turkey and Moldova have diplomatic relations since 1992. Ties gained significant momentum with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the Eastern European country in October 2018, which included Gagauz Region (Gagauz-Gokoguz Yeri) as well.
His visit was the first official bilateral presidential visit from Turkey to Moldova after 19 years, according to Foreign Ministry records.
In December 1994, Moldova’s parliament offered some 160,000 Turkic Gagauz people within their borders a large degree of autonomy to create a favorable environment for maintaining a national identity and culture.
The autonomous territory is home to a majority of Gagauz population – an Orthodox Christian, Turkic community.
