ANKARA

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will visit Ethiopia on Friday to attend the African Union summit.

"Turkey pays attention to making high-level participation in the African Union summits, which are scheduled for January and June every year," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The theme of the 24th AU summit, to be held in Addis Ababa, will be “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063.”

"Turkey will continue to enhance its relations with Africa and will contribute to the solution of problems, integration and development efforts in the continent," the statement added.

The ministry also said Cavusoglu will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts about regional and international developments. In addition, the foreign minister will discuss resolutions from the latest Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit that was held in November 2014.

Turkey has been an observer state in the African Union since 2005 and has also been considered a strategic partner for the union since 2008.