Turkey President Erdogan set to visit Baltics amid EU tour

  • 2014-10-14
  • From wire reports, RIGA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (photo: EPA)

Newly-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Latvia and Estonia next week as part of an EU tour aimed at discussing regional security and Turkey's goal of joining the EU.

The Baltic states will be the first countries Erdogan visits in the EU, LETA reports. 

During their meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Latvian President Berzins and Erdogan discussed matters related to Turkey's goal of joining the EU, regional cooperation and security. Berzins told the Turkish president that further EU expansion will be on the agenda during Latvia's presidency of the EU next year.

In August, Erdogan won Turkish national elections, taking 52 percent of the vote.

Erdogan's main rival Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu received 38.3 percent of the vote, while the Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas received 9.7 percent of the vote.