The 12th Ministerial meeting of the UN Group of Friends of Mediation convened on 21 September 2022 on the margins of the high-level week of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly at the Turkish House in New York under the theme of “Avoiding Humanitarian Crises Through Mediation”.

In the meeting, which Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu hosted and co-chaired with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto, the role of conflict prevention and mediation approaches, including the recent “İstanbul Grain Deal”, in preventing humanitarian crises was discussed.

“The Group of Friends of Mediation” was formed following the “Mediation for Peace Initiative” launched jointly by Türkiye and Finland in 2010. It aims to raise awareness on peaceful resolution of conflicts. The Group’s membership has risen to 61 and it takes on a crucial role for keeping peace mediation on the agenda at this particular moment in time when the conflicts are getting more complex worldwide, and their frequency worldwide is increasing.