President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has postponed his planned Feb. 16 visit to the United Arab Emirates and is expected to travel to Ethiopia on Feb. 17 for a one-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and signing new cooperation agreements.
Erdoğan will hold talks in Addis Ababa at the invitation of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The visit is expected to include the signing of agreements and documents whose negotiations have been completed in the areas of trade, defense and infrastructure. Energy, investment and defense industry issues are expected to feature prominently in the discussions.
The Turkish leader’s visit to the UAE was postponed due to health problems experienced by President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Erdoğan instead held a telephone conversation with his counterpart.
According to a statement from Türkiye's Communications Directorate, the leaders discussed opportunities for cooperation and steps to further strengthen relations in line with the common interests of their countries and peoples.
The statement said the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral ties, particularly on the basis of progress achieved in various areas, including development partnerships. They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern, recent developments in the region and ongoing efforts in response to those developments.
Both leaders confirmed that their postponed meeting would be rescheduled and expressed their intention to meet as soon as possible.
The second stage of the Gaza peace deal led by the United States, Türkiye, Qatar and Egypt was among the top issues to be discussed during the UAE visit.
Turkish and UAE officials say the deal should lead to a two-state solution with the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
The talks were set to include ways to reconstruct war-torn Gaza and ensure that Palestinians will receive a sufficient amount of humanitarian aid. Erdoğan and the Abu Dhabi ruler were to review the latest developments regarding the establishment of the Board of Peace, as well as the creation of an international force to monitor the peace process between Israel and Hamas.
On economy, Türkiye and the UAE enjoy a nearly $20 billion trade volume with a joint objective of doubling it in the coming period. The Turkish business community foresaw that Erdoğan and Zahyan would take new decisions to advance bilateral economic relations through trade and investments.
Sheikh Mohammed paid a visit to Ankara in July 2025, where the two countries signed seven agreements.
