The President of the Alanya Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mehmet Şahin has been appointed as the Honorary Consul. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius and the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu attended the opening ceremony.
Lithuania's Foreign Minister was pleased that the opening of the new Honorary Consulate in Alanya showed Lithuania's interest in developing closer ties with this important region of Turkey. According to L. Linkevičius, the Honorary Consulate should pay particular attention to the promotion of bilateral economic relations and investments, as well as to the search for new markets for Lithuanian goods.
The bilateral meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister focused on issues related to foreign policy, regional security and bilateral cooperation, the situation in the Black and Azov Seas.
"During these difficult times, NATO must increase its support for Ukraine, which has suffered new attacks by Russia. The Alliance's partners have to unitedly support Ukraine to help the country be better prepared to defend itself from external aggression. Only a solid united response by the international community can stop further Russian aggression," said Lithuania's Foreign Minister.
During his visit to Alanya, L. Linkevičius also met representatives of the Lithuanian community in Turkey. The Lithuanian community was registered in the municipality of Alanya in 2014. This is the first officially registered Lithuanian community in Turkey. According to the Lithuanian Embassy, there are currently 600 Lithuanians living in Turkey.
