Extending 'food deal' would serve 'common interest': Erdogan

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It would be in the common interest of all parties to the "food deal" for all parties involved in the agreement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Declaring that it is in the common interest to extend the mechanism, which expires in November, President Erdogan said that they continue to work on the uninterrupted export of Russian fertilizers and grain products," the President's office said.

This comes weeks after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world will be at risk of food shortages next year if the problem of a destabilized fertilizer market is not resolved soon.

Russia alone in 2021 was the leading exporter of nitrogen fertilizers, the second major supplier of potassium fertilizers, and the third-largest supplier of phosphorous fertilizers. 

Western sanctions on Moscow imposed over the war in Ukraine have undermined Russia's sales of agricultural products around the globe, which prompted the Kremlin to suspend the export of fertilizers.

What is the 'food deal'?

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov signed a grain deal mediated by the United Nations in Istanbul.

"The Secretary-General is the witness of the Black Sea initiative, we expect to see the defense minister of the Russian Federation, defense minister of Turkey, and the infrastructure minister of Ukraine signing the deal," a senior UN official told a briefing before the signing of the deal.

The Ukrainian side will have control over the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny, from which grain exports will be organized, according to the agreements. Aside from that, no ships other than those exporting grain and related food products and fertilizers will be permitted to dock at these ports.

Since the agreement has been put into effect, Ukraine has shipped one million tonnes of foodstuff from its three Black Sea ports under the UN-backed grain deal, according to Ukrainian media outlets. 

Give talks a shot

Erdogan also told his Russian counterparts to give talks with Kiev a chance, underlining that this country was ready to mediate between the two sides.

"President Erdogan said that in order to pave the way for more positive developments, steps are needed to reduce tensions and that Russia is expected to take steps to facilitate this process, especially on the issue of the annexation of some regions of Ukraine to Russia," his office said.

Erdogan offered earlier this month to mediate the impasse over a Russian-controlled nuclear power station in Ukraine, escalating fears of a catastrophic calamity in light of shelling in the vicinity of Europe's largest nuclear power plant stoking fears for weeks.

Offering condolences

Erdogan also took the time to express his condolences over the tragic consequences of a terrorist attack at a school in Izhevsk, Russia, the Kremlin announced Thursday.

"The president of Turkey expressed his condolences in connection with the tragic consequences of the terrorist attack in the school of the city of Izhevsk. After that, a meaningful conversation was held on various aspects of the development of bilateral cooperation and the situation around Ukraine," the statement read.

A gunman had entered school No. 88 in Izhevsk in the Udmurt Republic and killed 13 people, including seven children, and injured 21 others before committing suicide. According to the 

Earlier, Kazantsev entered school No. 88 in Izhevsk in the Udmurt Republic and killed 13 people, including seven children, and injured 21 others before committing suicide. According to the IC, the gunman was wearing a black T-shirt with Nazi symbols, the gunman was wearing a black T-shirt with Nazi symbols.

"IC investigators have identified the person who attacked the school in Izhevsk. He is Artyom Kazantsev, born in 1988, a native of Izhevsk, a graduate of this school," the press service said, adding that "suspicions of his adherence to neo-Nazi views and Nazi ideology are being checked."