Japan Foreign, Defense Ministers to Attend NATO Events in Turkey

Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi plan to visit the Turkish capital of Ankara from Monday through Thursday to attend NATO summit-related events. The Japanese government reported the plan to a board meeting of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Friday, where it received approval. Tokyo had initially considered having Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attend the events, but decided against it because of her parliamentary commitments. It will be the second consecutive year that a Japanese prime minister has missed the gatherings, following Shigeru Ishiba’s absence last year. Motegi will attend in Takaichi’s place. During the series of meetings with NATO officials, Motegi and Koizumi are expected to exchange views on the situations in Ukraine and Iran. They hope to strengthen cooperation in responding to China and share the recognition that the security of the Euro-Atlantic is inseparably linked to that of the Indo-Pacific region. Koizumi told a press conference Friday that he was invited to the events as a representative of Japan, a member of the Indo-Pacific 4, or IP4, a grouping also involving South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, all of which maintain cooperative ties with NATO. “I would like to reaffirm close unity with NATO,” he said. Koizumi is scheduled to hold talks with defense ministers and defense industry executives from various countries during his visit. He is working to set up separate meetings with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and British Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]