The Turkish embassy in Minsk is preparing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Belarus, a representative of the diplomatic mission told BelaPAN.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka invited his Turkish counterpart to visit Belarus when the pair were meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul this past April. Mr. Erdogan announced his readiness to visit Belarus.
The Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced on Monday that Minsk will host a Belarusian-Turkish business forum on July 29 "in the framework of Turkish President Erdogan's visit to the Republic of Belarus."
The embassy representative confirmed that the visit had been scheduled, and said that the diplomatic mission was not aware of any plans to cancel it following last week's failed coup attempt in Turkey.
When reached by BelaPAN, a Minsk-based imam said that Messrs. Lukashenka and Erdogan were scheduled to inaugurate a mosque in Minsk on July 29.
It was not immediately known whether the Turkish president could change his travel plans following the failed attempt by a faction of the Turkish military to overthrow him on the night between July 15 and 16.
