Foreign Ministers of Maldives and Türkiye holds Official talks

30 January 2022

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, held official talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, today.

During the discussions between the two Ministers, Minister Çavuşoğlu accepted the proposal by Minister Shahid to establish a visa-free regime between Maldives and Türkiye. This will allow Maldivians to travel to Turkiye without obtaining prior visa, and increase people-to-people contact between the Maldives and Turkiye.

Both Minister Shahid and Minister Çavuşoğlu discussed a wide array of issues of mutual interest in the areas of education, youth and sports, health, tourism, fisheries and agriculture, environment and climate change, economic cooperation, and counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation. The Ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to enhance cooperation in the international arena, particularly in addressing the contemporary challenges of the Muslim word.

Minister Çavuşoğlu committed the support of Türkiye for the Maldives candidature for the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2023-2025. Minister Shahid also conveyed the support of the Government of Maldives to Türkiye’s bid to host the 51st Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation for Islamic Conference in 2025.