Joint statement from Erdogan and Rutte: ‘NATO needs Turkey’ – Last Minute Politics News

President of AKP Recep Tayyip ErdoganPrime Minister of the Netherlands Mark RutteHe received him at Vahdettin Mansion.

After the meeting, which was closed to the press, the two leaders held a joint press conference. In his statement at the joint press conference, Erdoğan said, “We have a 400-year history with the Netherlands. During our meetings, we reviewed the multidimensional cooperation between our countries. Our commercial and economic relations continue to deepen and strengthen. The Netherlands is the largest investor country in Turkey. Our bilateral trade reached 13 billion dollars last year, we aim to increase this figure to 20 billion dollars.” said.

President Erdoğan said, “We exchanged ideas with the Prime Minister about the developments concerning our common security, especially Gaza and Ukraine. Ensuring a permanent ceasefire is of great importance. More pressure needs to be put on the Israeli administration regarding the ceasefire and the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The fight against terrorism was one of the top priorities of our consultation. The heavy price paid by Turkey in the fight against separatist terrorism is obvious. We lost thousands of our citizens, including children, women, civilians and security forces, in the attacks of the PKK. I stated that no terrorist organization should be tolerated, especially the PKK and its extensions.” he said.

Regarding the NATO Secretary General election to be held in Washington in July, President Erdoğan said, “No one should have any doubt that we will make our decision within the framework of strategic wisdom and equity.”

“NATO NEEDS TURKEY”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, “Turkey is currently playing a decisive role and while doing so, it is making efforts to resolve the situation in Gaza, as well as efforts regarding the war in Ukraine. Türkiye is a geopolitical actor. We talked about all issues in detail, including Gaza and Ukraine. We have bilateral relations dating back over 400 years. My candidacy for NATO Secretary General is in question. Türkiye is in a difficult region. Unfortunately, terrorism is on the agenda. We also talked about this issue. Türkiye represents a very important power for NATO. “NATO’s southern wing needs Turkey, it needs Turkey’s leadership,” he said.