Queen Mathilde was welcomed at Istanbul airport on Sunday on her first economic mission as queen. The mission is the largest ever to Türkiye, with 428 participants. The delegation visited representatives of the defence sector, including the leading drone manufacturer Baykar,
“Türkiye is a strategic economic partner for Belgium,” said Foreign minister Maxime Prévot of Les Engagés. “It’s a large market of 85 million consumers and it has a customs union with the EU. It is also a geopolitical power.”
Crown Princess Elisabeth will take over these economic missions from her mother next year. She is due to graduate from Harvard at the end of the month after a two-year master’s in public policy.