Davutoğlu, who has been chief foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since 2002 when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) first came to power, was appointed foreign minister in May. After his appointment, Davutoğlu paid numerous official bilateral visits and hosted many counterparts from various countries. He is known for his fast-track style of work.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday following a Balkans leaders meeting, Davutoğlu said his meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly have been going on at an extraordinary tempo. In addition to his bilateral talks, Davutoğlu has been accompanying Erdoğan to some of the prime minister's bilateral meetings.
“We have a unique opportunity to have close contact with all countries both as a member of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly and as a necessity of our international responsibility,” Davutoğlu was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. “In addition, we have had an opportunity to discuss fundamental issues of Turkish foreign policy -- particularly Cyprus, developments in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus -- in a comprehensive way with our counterparts,” he added.
Around a year ago, in October 2008, following five years of intense lobbying, Turkey was elected to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term, which started on Jan. 1. Meanwhile, due to his hectic program Davutoğlu sometimes had to run from one meeting to another in order to arrive at the next meeting in a timely fashion, the Cihan news agency reported.
Some of those with whom Davutoğlu has so far had bilateral talks are White House Middle East envoy George J. Mitchell; EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana; Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen; Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic.
