A decade after their last meeting in this format, Türkiye and Belgium will bring ministers together in Brussels on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to discuss security cooperation, migration and visas.
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek and Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi would attend. Its announced agenda includes counterterrorism, judicial and police cooperation, consular matters, and regional and international developments.
Anadolu Agency cited Turkish Foreign Ministry sources as identifying Belgium’s delegation as Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt, Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden, Interior Minister Bernard Quintin and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot. The sources also identified defense industry cooperation as a topic.
The governments last met in this format in Ankara in March 2016. Their joint statement from that meeting recorded discussions of migration and terrorism-related extradition requests. It also identified earlier meetings in Brussels in 2013 and Istanbul in 2008.
Economic ties have featured in more recent contacts. Belgium said representatives of 194 companies joined its May mission to Türkiye, which explored opportunities in energy, defense and transport. The Belgian government described commercial opportunities for those companies and stronger supply chains as reasons for the trip.
Fidan is separately due to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Tuesday, NATO said. Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said he also plans talks with senior European Union officials.
