Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a meeting between the delegations with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the capital Beijing as part of his visit to China. Speaking at the joint press conference held after the meeting, Fidan stated that Turkey and China have overlapping views in many areas of international relations and that both countries defend a fairer understanding in the international system, and said, "Good relations between Turkey and China will also contribute to the achievement of regional and global peace, prosperity and stability." Fidan also added, “Turkey and China have a common understanding of Ukraine.”
Saying, "Turkey's support for China's territorial integrity is full," Fidan said, "We also closely follow the developments and geopolitical reflections in the Asia Pacific. We think that the tests in the Asia Pacific require effective multilateralism, constructive dialogue efforts and cooperation based on common priorities.”
Emphasizing that China's sensitivity on Palestine is extremely pleasing, Fidan stated that they appreciate China's solidarity with the Palestinians and strong support for the two-state solution.
Fidan pointed out that it is extremely important for Chinese President Xi Jinping to call for a wide-ranging, competent and effective international peace conference for a solution in Palestine, and said, "We will continue to work with China for a ceasefire in Gaza."
Visit to the Uyghur region
Fidan, who will also visit the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Wednesday as part of his visit to China, referred to the cities of Kashgar and Urumqi and said: "These cities also play a bridge between China and the Turkish world and between China and the Islamic world. Historical are symbols of our friendship and neighborhood. The unity of societies and peoples is the greatest wealth of powerful states. I would like to express that I would be very pleased to witness the historical and cultural richness of these geographies.”
President Tayyip Erdoğan made the last high-level visit from Turkey to the region in 2012 - as Prime Minister at the time.
Cooperation against hegemony
In his statement, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized that "China and Turkey should strengthen cooperation and oppose all kinds of hegemony and power policies."
'China and Turkey must strengthen cooperation and intensify efforts to find a fair and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue,' Wang Yi also added.
Commitment to the single Chinese principle and emphasis on security cooperation development
Fidan also met with China Vice President Han Zheng on Tuesday, according to a statement from China. In the statement, it was noted that Fidan told Han that Turkey adheres to Turkey's only Chinese principle and that 'it will not allow activities that harm China's territorial integrity in Turkey'. It was stated that Fidan added that Ankara is ready to exchange high-level views with Beijing.
The previous day, Fidan met with Chen Wenqing, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) and the Chairman of the CP Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Beijing. According to Chinese state agency Xinhua, Chen Wenqing told Fidan that in recent years, two presidents, Xi Jinping and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have reached a consensus on deepening the strategic cooperation between China and Turkey, drawing up a long-term plan for the development of bilateral relations. Chen noted that China is ready to join hands with Turkey, to guide the consensus of the two leaders, to promote cooperation between the two parties in the field of security to a new level and to better protect the security interests of the two countries, to allow the development strategy between the two countries to be uninted.
Harmonization of the Belt Road and Middle Corridor
Minister Fidan also gave a speech on 'Turkey-China Relations in the Changing World Order' at the think tank 'China and the Center for Globalization' in Beijing the previous day.
In his speech here, Fidan stated that Turkey's wide commercial ties with its geostrategic location provide free and easy access to a population of approximately 1.5 billion and a market worth 28 trillion dollars, stretching from Europe to the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, and said, "All of these are within 4 hours of flights."
Fidan also touched upon the Caspian Crossing East-West Central Corridor Initiative, which will reach China, starting from Turkey and crossing the Caucasus, Caspian Sea and Central Asian states, in parallel with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Stating that the Central Corridor provides a shorter road connection of 2 thousand kilometers between Europe and Asia and shortens the sea route by 15 days, Fidan noted that the initiative is in natural harmony with China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Fidan stated that the Middle Corridor provides uninterrupted and faster transportation to Europe and Africa, as well as the Black Sea and Mediterranean basins, and reminded that in this context, the memorandum of understanding was signed with China in 2015 to harmonize these two initiatives and increase cooperation.
Pointing out the importance of harmonizing the Middle Corridor with China's Belt and Road Initiative, Fidan emphasized that the project became even more important in this period when the Russia-Ukrainian War continued and the war in Gaza affected the Red Sea and geopolitical risks increased.
Fidan drew attention to the importance of creating synergy between the Middle Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative with other connectivity projects such as the Development Path Project, and stated that this could connect Eurasia's economic power centers for prosperous regional integration.
'Of course we want to be a member of the BRICS'
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Turkey is in customs union with Brussels, but is also exploring new opportunities for cooperation with various partners on different platforms such as BRICS, which constitutes 10 developing economies.
Fidan said, “Of course, we want to be a member of the BRICS. 'We will see how this year will go,' he said.
Fidan also said he was looking forward to attending the mechanism meeting in Russia next week, when BRICS foreign ministers will meet ahead of the summit in Kazan in October.
One of the issues on the agenda is expected to be the possibility of NATO ally Turkey joining the BRICS group.