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Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Tuesday began a visit to Finland, where he will meet his Finnish counterpart, Elina Valtonen, Turkish diplomatic sources said.
During the two-day trip, Fidan will hold a series of meetings, including with Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho. Valtonen previously met Fidan in Antalya in May during an informal NATO foreign ministers’ gathering hosted by Türkiye.
Fidan is also scheduled to address an event at the Finnish Parliament titled “Türkiye–Finland Cooperation” and to meet members of Finland’s Tatar community, an ethnic Turkic group.
Fidan is expected to emphasize the importance of strengthening and diversifying Turkish-Finnish relations based on mutual benefit, particularly in trade, investment and defense industries.
He will highlight Ankara’s readiness to boost cooperation with Helsinki in information technology, cybersecurity, financial technologies and renewable energy. Joint initiatives in the Arctic region could bring new momentum to relations, he will underline.
Fidan will also note that Turkish citizens and Finland’s Tatar community represent strong human bridges between the two nations.
He is expected to thank Finland for supporting Türkiye’s EU membership bid and outline Ankara’s expectations for advancing Türkiye–EU ties, including modernizing the Customs Union and progress in visa liberalization.
Fidan will stress the need for continued cooperation on global peace efforts in multilateral forums, citing the Friends of Mediation groups co-chaired by both countries under the U.N. and OSCE.
He will say Türkiye expects its new NATO ally to contribute to Euro-Atlantic security and will reaffirm Ankara’s commitment to support Finland within the alliance. He will also underscore Türkiye’s strategic importance to Europe’s security architecture, given its military strength and geography.
On the Russia–Ukraine war, Fidan will reaffirm Türkiye’s readiness to serve as a facilitator in diplomatic efforts to secure a fair and lasting peace.
In Gaza, he will stress the importance of maintaining the ceasefire and ensuring uninterrupted humanitarian aid, as well as improving conditions on the ground and accelerating international efforts for reconstruction.
Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Finland began in 1924 with the signing of a Treaty of Friendship. In 2010, the two countries jointly launched the U.N.-backed Mediation for Peace initiative.
Bilateral trade reached roughly $1.8 billion last year, and about 123,000 Finnish tourists visited Türkiye in 2024.
Finland joined NATO in 2023, giving the alliance its longest border with Russia—1,300 kilometers (808 miles). Finnish President Alexander Stubb paid an official visit to Türkiye in 2024.
Approximately 18,000 people of Turkish origin live in Finland, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, forming an important component of bilateral ties.
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