Algeria’s Tebboune heads to Turkey after China visit

ANKARA — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will travel to Turkey on Friday to meet with his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish government announced.

The Turkish Presidency’s communication directorate said Friday that Erdogan and Tebboune would meet in Istanbul on Saturday to discuss bilateral ties as well as regional and international developments.

Tebboune will be the fourth foreign leader that Erdogan has met with in Turkey after his inauguration in early June. Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenksyy, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani have all visited Turkey.

Tebboune will travel to Turkey as the final stop of his regional tour which included Qatar and China. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency said the Algerian president will travel to Istanbul from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. During his five-day official visit to the Asian powerhouse, Algiers and Beijing signed 19 cooperation agreements.

The trade volume between Turkey and Algeria stood at more than $4 billion in 2022 according to official Turkish figures. Last year, Turkey also signed an agreement for joint oil and gas exploration with energy-rich Algeria. Following Erdogan's visit to Algeria in 2020, Tebboune paid a return visit to Turkey in 2022.  

Tebboune’s visit is a prelude to intense Turkish diplomatic traffic next week. Following the Algerian president, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is set to travel to Turkey on Wednesday. Next, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with Erdogan for the first time in 14 years in Turkey. China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, is also expected in Ankara next week. 

Speaking on his way back from Turkish Cyprus Thursday, Erdogan said he was planning to visit Libya and several North African countries late July.