For peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean as well as maintaining its positive atmosphere Turkey with Greece talked to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked about Turkey’s relations with Greece from the step of the Antalya diplomacy forum and stressed that “Our goal is to maintain peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean and we are working to maintain a positive atmosphere with our neighboring Greece».
«We closely watch developments in the Balkans And we continue our cooperation with the countries of the region, ”he said.
Referring to Euro -Atlantic relations, after stressing that ‘NATO, which is the foundation stone of Euro -Atlantic security, is one of the structural elements of Turkish foreign policy and security of Turkey“, Argued that” today that the future of NATO and European security architecture are in the news, It has once again become clear that no one can imagine European security without Turkey. “
According to Erdogan, “having NATO’s second largest army, Turkey is ready to take responsibility for European security and future, especially with its defense industry, which has made progress in recent years.”
On Turkey’s relations with the European Union, President Erdogan reiterated that “it is invalid for us the claims and criticism that Turkey is moving away from the European Union. Complete integration into the European Union is still the strategic goal of our country. “
On problems in Euro -Turkish relations, he rejected responsibility on the European side by saying: “However, sometimes because of fears, sometimes due to prejudice and sometimes due to factors that have captured the Union from the inside, the European Union does not demonstrate the necessary will to promote our integration process.
To put it more properly, some European countries today do not have, unfortunately, the vision, courage and strategic perception of life in the European Union three -quarters of the century ago. ”
Finally, it asked the EU to take specific steps, accepting Turkey within its bays, in order to meet the modern challenges, as it implied. The Turkish president specifically stated: “We say that if the European Union wants to overcome today’s trials and be duly represented in the restructured global system, it should act accordingly, get rid of its weights and Turkey should take its place as a member.
We are ready and determined to promote our integration process. We are waiting for the European Union to take specific steps. “