Balkans | President Erdogan: Macedonia stayed at the door for 16 years only because of the name issue

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a press conference at Ataturk Airport before leaving for Lithuania.

Erdogan made it clear that they will move to Vilnius to attend the summit of heads of state and government that will start tomorrow, and he said that they held the summit at a time when the negative impact of the war in Ukraine on global stability and security increased.

Erdogan stated that they will exchange views on defense and security in NATO’s geography and sign important decisions at this critical time, and said, “We will review the decisions we took at the Madrid summit in order to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and defense structure.” And support partners, especially Ukraine. On this occasion, we will organize the first meeting of the Ukrainian NATO Council, which was established as a sign of support for Ukraine by NATO and its allies. We believe that ending the war with a just and lasting peace as soon as possible will facilitate the process of Ukraine’s membership in NATO, “he said.

President Erdoğan said that they decided to update the coalition’s defense plans in Madrid and that they expected their approval at the Vilnius Summit.

Noting that they have worked with alliance solidarity, as always, despite their efforts to move things forward in the process, Erdogan said:

We will take stock of the work done in Vilnius to usher in a new phase in NATO’s counterterrorism efforts. Another important outcome of the summit was a renewed commitment to the minimum defense spending of 2 percent. Of course, while we are talking about increasing defense spending, on the other hand, we see that the brakes have been put on restrictions. The limitations and impediments that some of our allies have unfairly imposed on our country bind us. Our country, which saw nearly 2 percent in defense spending for 2019, is now down to 1.30 percent in this area. At the summit, I will reiterate our call to allies who are imposing sanctions and restrictions on Turkey, to quickly turn around this mistake.

Emphasizing that another item on the agenda is the expansion of NATO, President Erdoğan said that Turkey is the country that has always supported NATO’s open door policy.

Expressing their support for this policy at every opportunity, while North Macedonia has been waiting at the door for 16 years only because of the name issue, Erdogan said, “A roadmap was prepared with the tripartite agreement signed in Madrid last year regarding applications for membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO. They must act in accordance with their obligations “Finland officially became a member of the Alliance in April. As for Sweden, the process continues. Our relevant institutions maintain contact with their Swedish counterparts through a transparent and good faith approach. This evening I will hold a tripartite meeting with His Excellency the Secretary-General and the Swedish Prime Minister. The progress of the membership process is approved Sweden is in NATO to fulfill the issues registered in the tripartite agreement. We are almost silent when we say that we, as Turkey, need to fight terrorist organizations and their extensions indiscriminately. Use phrases.

On this occasion, Erdogan expressed his condolences to the relatives and comrades of the martyrs, and wished mercy to the two heroes, Mehmet Cies Hasan Tash and Furkan Günercuk, who were martyred yesterday in the Clu Lok area.

“Thank you, our nation.” “No one should expect us to show concessions and understanding in a situation where our soldiers, police and civilians were martyred,” Erdogan said. We want to fulfill all the promises that were made and signed for us. Our determination in these matters is permanent.” He said.

We play critical roles on a global scale in preventing and managing irregular mass movements.

Expressing the continuation of NATO’s fight against terrorism in and beyond the southern border regions, which also lie on NATO’s borders, Erdogan said: “We play critical roles on a global scale in preventing and managing irregular mass migration movements. We will reaffirm the importance we place on the Alliance In Vilnius with our allies at a time when threats are increasing. I will hold bilateral contacts with some heads of state and government on the sidelines of the summit. I hope that my visit to Lithuania will be beneficial for our country, our alliance and our region.” He said.

Erdogan indicated that he wanted to emphasize a fact on the occasion of his visit to Lithuania, and said:

“There is Turkey waiting at the gates of the European Union for more than 50 years, and almost all NATO member states are now members of the European Union. I appeal to those countries that have kept Turkey waiting at the gates of the European Union for more than 50 years, but I will also appeal in Vilnius; first Let us pave the way for Turkey in the European Union, and then let us pave the way for Sweden, just as we paved the way for Finland. He said.

Noting that he used these phrases in front of US President Joe Biden last night, Erdogan said: “I have to make this statement in Vilnius as well. Because I also believe in that; my people have expectations of us. We can no longer raise our nation’s expectations of us. More than 50 years.” We are Turkey. We are not a country with cracked doors. This needs to be known. I will express this while making these contacts with the heads of state and government in the meetings that I will hold on the sidelines of the summit. I hope that my visit to Lithuania will be beneficial for our country, our alliance and our region.” Use phrases.

Like the whole world, our country is increasingly feeling the problems caused by climate change.

Referring to the heavy rains and floods in the Black Sea region, President Erdogan wished the citizens affected by the floods a speedy recovery, and wished God’s mercy on the martyrs.

“Our country stands by its citizens as always.” As a matter of fact, our friends from the relevant ministers quickly moved to the flood area. We also receive regular information from them about the situation in the field and the activities that have been carried out. Unfortunately, like the rest of the world, our country is increasingly feeling the problems caused by climate change. Save May God protect our country from all disasters.

“Looking forward to next month’s visit with Mr. Putin”

Answering questions from reporters after his speech, Erdogan was asked if he would soon reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin to extend the grain corridor agreement, which expires on July 17.

Erdogan said that they expect a visit from Putin next month, “If Mr. Putin’s visit to Turkey takes place, of course we will discuss it 100%. We will also discuss this issue through face-to-face meetings. Ukraine said, ‘We are ready to do our part,’” he says. Putin, I don’t expect anything different from Mr. Putin. I think Mr. Putin will take the same position on this issue as he has so far. In the field of telephone diplomacy, my friends are already discussing these issues with them at length. “

“If they have a congress, we have the Turkish Grand National Assembly”

Answering reporters’ questions after the meeting, Erdogan said, “What kind of position will you take regarding Sweden’s membership in NATO?” Regarding the application, he stated that the final decision in this matter rests with the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Expressing the impossibility of taking any steps here after the Turkish Grand National Assembly did not take this decision, Erdogan said: “Look, what did they all bring the F-16s to? They say, ‘It should pass Congress.’ If they have a congress, we have the National Assembly Turkish Grand National. After not passing the Turkish Grand National Assembly, we said, ‘We said it.’ We can’t say.” Make an evaluation.

Reminding that the F-16 issue came to the fore in the phone call with the President of the United States of America Joe Biden yesterday, when asked how some senators assessed their opposition to the sale of the F-16 in Congress, Erdogan said: “I am mobilizing all possible means “. he said he said

President Erdogan said:

Biden wants the same thing from us. Of course, we told him that our case is very different from yours. What do you and we always say against terrorism? We have a firm stand. As this battle continues in the world, especially DEASH, in the fight against terrorism, we have submitted the issue of Finland to our parliament, because Finland has not been involved in terrorism in this regard. At this point our parliament paved the way for this work and we finished the work. But this is not the case with the F-16. As NATO allies, we will harden ourselves against all NATO enemies with the steps we will take here. We’ve made your payments. We have the push that we did on the F-35. 1 billion 450 million dollars. We have not yet received a refund for this payment. We talked about those. Of course, now we will have a narrow meeting in Vilnius. We will discuss these issues with him in these narrow meetings, and with this meeting I hope that we will overcome this problem. It also saddens us that this is linked to Sweden. This is something different, this is something different. We will repeat this for them. I hope it ends well.”

President Erdogan went to Lithuania to attend the NATO Summit

The plane carrying President Erdogan, who will attend the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit to be held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, departed from Ataturk Airport at 13.20.

Erdogan was accompanied by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, MIT President Ibrahim Kalin and Director of Presidential Communications Fahrettin Altun.