President Erdoğan: Turkey and Poland are key NATO allies

Highlights from the statements made by AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan are as follows:

WE WILL VISIT POLAND

Drawing strength from our deep-rooted history with Poland spanning over six centuries, we have addressed every issue concerning our region today with an open heart as two allies and strategic partners. In our meetings with Mr. Tusk and his delegation, we reaffirmed our will to strengthen and diversify Turkey-Poland relations. We evaluated the joint steps we will take in this direction. We also foresee paying a visit to Poland in the coming period.

NEW TRADE VOLUME TARGET IS 15 BILLION DOLLARS

We possess strong potential in the fields of trade, investments, defense cooperation, and human relations. We discussed these comprehensively today. We had the opportunity to discuss the steps that can be taken to end the war in Ukraine. We exchanged views on developments regarding the future of European security, as well as regional issues, including Syria and Palestine. We are determined to further advance our trade volume, which reached approximately 12 billion dollars in 2024, and our mutual investments. We have set 15 billion dollars as the new trade volume target. Poland is one of the important markets for our international contracting sector. I would like to express here, in particular, that we are pleased with the increase in the number of projects undertaken by our companies.

OUR COUNTRIES HAVE AN INDISPENSABLE PLACE IN EUROPE'S SECURITY ARCHITECTURE

Turkey and Poland are two key allies positioned on the eastern and southern flanks of the alliance, commanding the largest land armies of NATO in Europe. Our countries have an indispensable place in the future of Europe's security architecture. I evaluated the future of Europe with my friend Tusk. We touched upon the efforts to strengthen the rapidly developing defense industry cooperation between our countries with new projects.

VISA ISSUE

Strengthening our relations in a wide range of areas, from education and culture to science and tourism, is an important investment in the future of our friendship. We attach importance to resolving the visa problems of our citizens, especially our business people and students. I expressed that I trust in my dear friend's attention to this matter.

I SHARED MY EXPECTATION WITH TUSK

Within the framework of Poland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we addressed current, regional, and global issues, as well as Turkey-European Union relations. We emphasize on every occasion that full membership in the European Union is our strategic goal. We frequently share with our counterparts our desire to advance our cooperation with the European Union on the basis of mutual benefit and respect. Current discussions have once again shown how critical and important this cooperation is. I would like to state this clearly once again today. If the European Union wants to prevent the loss of power and stature, or even reverse it, it can only achieve this with Turkey's full membership. I shared with Mr. Tusk my expectation that Poland will continue to increase its support for our membership process.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

The latest situation in the Russia-Ukraine War has been at the top of our agenda. We find the fact that Ukraine accepted the ceasefire in the talks between America and Ukraine yesterday to be positive and important. Now, we hope that Russia will also respond to this step constructively. Turkey's stance regarding this war has been clear since the first day. We do not want more blood to be shed; we want both of our neighbors to end the war with a fair peace. If the latest development enables Russia and Ukraine to return to the negotiating table, we are ready to host the talks and provide all kinds of contributions for the establishment of a fair and lasting peace.

As I have stated before, our region has had enough of war, conflict, and tears. Our hope is that our region will emerge from the predicament it has been in for a long time as soon as possible and achieve peace and stability. As Turkey, we will hopefully continue to work for this. I wish for Prime Minister Mr. Tusk's visit to contribute to our bilateral and multilateral cooperation. I thank him for his visit. I hope our consultations will lead to auspicious outcomes.