Erdoğan: We will not allow NATO cooperation with Israel

Erdoğan addressed the global public at the NATO Summit. While President Erdoğan emphasized that continued support for Israel is unacceptable, he also made striking statements regarding a potential meeting with Assad. Erdoğan further added, "We want to become a permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization."

Highlights from the statements of AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan:

We have concluded our summit program. We have successfully completed another historic summit in the 75th year of our alliance. We are grateful to President Biden and the US authorities for their hospitality. We maintain a stance in favor of international law in the Russia-Ukraine war. We have agreed on new concrete steps. We approved NATO's training initiative for Ukraine. We decided to appoint a NATO senior representative to Kyiv. Turkey has continued its efforts toward ending this war since the very first day. There are no losers in a just peace. I shared these assessments throughout the summit.

We are in a period where crises are deepening and tensions are rising. I emphasized that Turkey is fulfilling its responsibilities. We are one of the countries that contribute the most to the alliance. The implementation of the decisions taken is important for the integrity of the alliance.

I reiterated our country's expectations. We also had the opportunity to follow up on the decisions we made at the summits. We updated NATO's counter-terrorism document last year. We see that cooperation between allies must be strengthened in the fight against terrorism. We are the only NATO country that has fought hand-to-hand against DAESH. We expect support from our allies in the fight against terrorism, which is one of the two main threats identified by NATO.

"UNACCEPTABLE"

We believe that NATO should be in much closer coordination with its partners in the south. A great massacre has been taking place in Gaza since October 7. Nearly 40 thousand innocent people have lost their lives in Israel's attacks. I drew attention to this in all my contacts. Peace cannot be spoken of without bringing a permanent solution to the Israel-Palestine issue.

The Netanyahu administration, with its expansionist and reckless policies, is endangering the security of not only its own citizens but the entire region. We are facing a structure that recognizes no legal order. Continued military support for Israel is unacceptable.

Permanent peace cannot be mentioned before the realization of a Palestinian state for the Palestinians who are suffering on their own lands. Until a comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, initiatives for cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey.

From the very first day, we have taken every step regarding the Israel-Palestine issue. Such as food aid and putting hospitals into operation. Nearly 40 thousand people have died there. We put our hospitals into operation regarding this issue. We also filed a complaint against Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague together with South Africa. Our Ministry of Justice, in particular, is following this work, and we are requesting other countries to also become complainants. These efforts of ours will continue, because we need to use the language that Israel understands.

F-16 ISSUE

We spoke with Mr. Biden last night and today. He said he would solve this problem within 3-4 weeks. I reminded him again as I was leaving today. There were also some witticisms between us. The issue regarding the parts is also among the topics we discussed.

"THE RIFT WITH ASSAD WILL BE OVERCOME"

I made my call to Mr. Assad to hold a meeting either in my country or in a third country 2 weeks ago. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs has also contacted his counterparts. We want to start a new process by overcoming the resentment and the rift.

"WE WANT TO BECOME A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION"

Our goal is to join the Shanghai Five not as an observer, but as a permanent member. I requested support for this from both Mr. Putin and other leaders.

We are not a party to the race here right now. In the 4-month period remaining in the race, the people in America will make the decision. The decision the states will make is very important. As Turkey, we will also watch the decision of the US delegate who will make the most auspicious decision. May November be auspicious.

NATO SUMMIT IN ISTANBUL

There is no decision yet on which city it will be in. Most likely, this summit would suit Istanbul. Hopefully, we will hold such a summit in Istanbul again and send our greetings to the world.

"THERE IS NO NEGATIVE SITUATION REGARDING EUROFIGHTER"

We discussed the Eurofighter issue. Mr. Scholz did not take a negative approach. There are positive developments on the German and British sides. We will follow up on it.

News Source: 12punto