21 January 2017•Update: 22 January 2017
ANKARA
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu congratulated newly elected European Parliament President Antonio Tajani in a telephone late Friday.
The two diplomats exchanged ideas during their talk as Cavusoglu wished Tajani a successful tenure.
The Italian conservative was elected Tuesday to head the European Parliament, replacing German Social Democratic politician Martin Schulz.
Tajani beat out Gianni Pittella for the election by a 351-282 vote in the fourth round of voting after three rounds failed to produce a clear majority.
He dedicated his victory to victims of a 2016 earthquake in Italy and called for European unity following the election.
Tajani's win marked another victory for Christian Democrats with Donald Tusk currently serving as head of the European Council and Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission chief.
Meanwhile, sources said Cavusoglu has had telephone conversations with Canadian former foreign Stephane Dion, who stepped down from his post 11 days ago, and Iceland’s former top diplomat, Lilja Alfreðsdóttir, who were thanked for their service and support for Turkey
