<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, discussed this Friday with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the draft resolution on Gaza promoted by Spain and Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly and Turkey's mediating role in achieving "a just and lasting peace" in Ukraine.</strong></h4> According to a press release from Moncloa, Sánchez was received in Istanbul by Erdogan, with whom he discussed bilateral trade relations and the potential for expansion in areas such as energy, infrastructure, and technology. The two leaders also discussed cooperation in security and defense matters and relations between Turkey and the European Union. On the international front, Sánchez and Erdogan discussed the situation in the Middle East and, in particular, the coordination of efforts to achieve progress towards peace in the region and the implementation of the two-state solution. During the meeting, Pedro Sánchez recalled that Spain is promoting a draft resolution in the United Nations General Assembly demanding that Israel end the blockade and grant full and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance. Regarding Ukraine, the President of the Government thanked Turkey for its role as a mediator in bringing about an end to Russia's war of aggression and "achieving a just and lasting peace." Finally, Sánchez invited Erdoğan to participate in the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Seville from June 30 to July 3. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also present at the meeting, according to the Turkish Presidency. Pedro Sánchez was received by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a week after speaking at the meeting of the European Political Community (EPC), where he explained the content of the draft resolution, which demands that Israel end the humanitarian blockade imposed on Gaza and grant full and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance. Among those attending the meeting, held in Tirana, Albania, was Erdogan himself. The following day, Sánchez spoke in Baghdad, Iraq, at the opening session of the 34th Summit of the League of Arab States, where he invited the 22 member states of that organization to work together to advance the draft resolution. Sánchez was the only Western leader invited to the event. Separately, Pedro Sánchez will chair the annual meeting of the Council of the Socialist International this Saturday in Istanbul, in his capacity as president of this world federation of parties, founded in 1951 and which brings together 89 parties from 81 countries. <h5><strong>Second trip to Turkey</strong></h5> This is Pedro Sánchez's second official trip to Turkey. The previous one took place in November 2021 on the occasion of the 7th High-Level Meeting (HLM) between Spain and Türkiye. Separately, Pedro Sánchez held bilateral meetings in Madrid and Vilnius on the sidelines of the NATO Summits in June 2022 and July 2023. The Turkish president returned to Madrid in June 2024 to co-chair the 8th NATO Summit with Sánchez, where they discussed, among other issues, the understanding between Madrid and Ankara on the Gaza conflict. At the joint press conference, the Prime Minister asserted that both countries share "the urgent and imperative need to achieve a ceasefire, the entry of humanitarian aid proportionate to the needs of the people of Gaza, and the release of the hostages." Likewise, the Prime Minister and the Turkish President held telephone conversations in November 2023 and May 2024. In the first, Erdogan praised the "valuable" stance of the Spanish government against Israel's "illegitimate attacks" in Gaza, and in the second, they discussed Spain's decision to recognize the State of Palestine and agreed on "the need to join forces with the international community to create the necessary context for the two-state solution," according to Moncloa.
