President Erdoğan: I believe that the Samarkand Summit will further improve the cooperation among Turkic states
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a press conference at Ankara Esenboğa Airport prior to his Uzbekistan visit.
Stating that he would depart for Samarkand at the invitation of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan to attend the 9th Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States to be held the following day, President Erdoğan added that as part of his visit he would meet with his Uzbek counterpart today as well.
“OUR UNITY IS GROWING STRONGER EACH PASSING DAY”
Noting that the Summit would be held under the theme of “New Era for the Turkic Civilization: Towards Common Development and Prosperity”, President Erdoğan said: “We have been striving to increase the solidarity among Turkic states since 1992. Our unity, which transformed into the Organization of Turkic States with the historic Istanbul Summit last year, is growing stronger each passing day. During our term presidency, we have worked hard to implement and follow up the decisions we took in Istanbul. We will entrust the flag to our Uzbek brothers and sisters in Samarkand.”
Underscoring that the Organization’s future and the deepening of the current avenues of cooperation would be discussed, and important decisions would be taken at the Samarkand Summit, President Erdoğan stated: “We will hold bilateral talks with the participating heads of state and government as part of my visit, and exchange our views on global matters as well as bilateral relations. I believe that the Samarkand Summit will further improve the cooperation among Turkic states, which share a common language, history and culture. As Türkiye we are proud that the Organization has been institutionalized and taken its prestigious place among the multilateral regional organizations.”
President Erdoğan answered reporters’ questions following his speech.
“OUR RESPECT TOWARDS EACH OTHER ENCOURAGES US TO TAKE SUCH STEPS”
Answering a question about his mediating role in the grain export agreement, President Erdoğan described the process leading up to the signing of the deal as the politics of leadership and said: “We did with Mr. Putin what was required by the politics of leadership. Had it not been for our trust in each other, we could not have taken such a step, nor could have we realized it. However, our respect towards, and trust in, each other encourage us to take such steps.”
“Our solidarity in nuclear energy, by the way a new step may probably be taken regarding Sinop, as well as in defense industry further strengthens our respect towards one another. This is how we have become successful in this issue.”
“HOSTILE EFFORTS HAVE AN ADVERSE IMPACT ON THE PROCESS”
In response to a question about the normalization process with Armenia, President Erdoğan recalled the latest talks held in Prague, and said: “I made it clear to them that ‘if your relations with Azerbaijan follow a positive course, our relations with you will follow a positive course as well. This is what we expect of you. We told them this in a very clear manner during both our meetings held with limited participation and our meetings held between delegations. This has yet to be achieved. That is so because of the diaspora’s hostile efforts in both France and the U.S. These hostile efforts have an adverse impact on the process. It is of course the Armenian administration that is to steer the diaspora’s hostile efforts towards a positive direction. If they can do so, our approach also changes in the positive direction. We are working to win friends, not enemies, on this issue. I hope they can achieve this and if they can take steps particularly regarding the Lachin and Zangezur corridors, it will have a positive impact on the steps we will take.”
“WE WILL MAINTAIN OUR TELEPHONE DIPLOMACY WITH RUSSIA”
Asked about Türkiye’s mediation efforts for the cessation of the Ukraine-Russia war, President Erdoğan stressed that Türkiye uninterruptedly continues its endeavors to mediate between the warring parties, and said: “However, it is not reasonable to give a deadline. Nevertheless, Russia’s most recent decision about Kherson marks a positive and important development. I hope it but I do not know whether Russia will participate in the G20 or not. If they attend, we will be able to have a face-to-face meeting there. Otherwise, we will maintain our telephone diplomacy with Russia. I hope we can become successful in our mediation efforts and we can enable the transition from a world dominated by wars to a world dominated by peace.”
