Turkish, Somali foreign ministers speak over phone

Turkish and Somali foreign ministers spoke via telephone Friday about several issues, according to diplomatic sources.

Top Turkish diplomat Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu conveyed his condolences to his Somali counterpart Abdisaid Muse Ali for those killed earlier this week in terror attacks in the East African country.

Muse Ali conveyed well wishes to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and first lady Emine Erdoğan after they tested positive for the coronavirus last week and congratulated Turkey for its domestically developed Turkovac COVID-19 vaccine.

The top Somali diplomat also confirmed he will attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey's resort city of Antalya from March 11 - 13.

Çavuşoğlu and Muse Ali discussed irregular migration and pushbacks and Çavuşoğlu conveyed his condolences for five irregular migrants that were found frozen to death on the Turkish-Greek border.

Çavuşoğlu said such pushbacks are unacceptable and the EU remains silent on the issue. He reiterated that Turkey will put the human rights violation on the agenda in international platforms.

Muse Ali also expressed his gratitude for the assistance provided by Turkey to his citizens who survived the tragedy.