President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held an interview with media representatives who were covering his visit to Azerbaijan.
In an interview with journalists, President Erdoğan firstly made a general assessment about his Brussels meetings on June 13-14 on the occasion of the NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government. Emphasising that, at the Summit, they evaluated the "NATO 2030" process, namely, the basic elements of the alliance's adaptation to the next decade, President Erdoğan said:
"We discussed in detail the current threats and challenges to the security of both NATO and its members. We reviewed the necessary methods and measures to combat them. As is known, Türkiye is one of the most important members of NATO. We duly fulfil our duties and responsibilities within the scope of the alliance and assume critical roles. Of course, we have certain expectations from our alliance partners when it comes to regional issues. We expressly expect them to respect our country's sovereign rights and sensitivities in security. We want them to display the solidarity required by the spirit of alliance.
At the NATO Summit, we once again expressed our resolve on this issue to our interlocutors. Of course, we repeated our proposals for cooperation in terms of an effective response to humanitarian crises and the fight against terrorism. In the session titled "Contribution to Stability" of the "Brussels Forum" held on the sidelines of the Summit, we gave messages in this direction. We also had ten meetings in Brussels, both tete-a-tete and between delegations. I held meetings, most notably with the President of the USA, Mr. Biden, and the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and France, and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain. In all our talks and meetings, we discussed the issues on our agenda with our interlocutors.
Following our program in Brussels, we came to Baku in acceptance of the invitation of my dear friend Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan. With Mr. Aliyev, we both held our official talks and made several visits in Shusha, which was liberated from the Armenian occupation and declared the "Cultural Capital" of Azerbaijan after victory. We discussed all opportunities for further cooperation between our countries in all areas. We considered all aspects that may be viewed for the new era to be a contribution to the peace, stability, and prosperity of the countries in the region. We signed the Shusha Declaration that is the assurance of our future cooperation. Here we also had the opportunity to address the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan. Later, we met with our soldiers stationed here. After watching the Türkiye-Wales game held in Baku as part of Euro 2020, we are leaving for Antalya.
We will chair the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Heads of State and Government Summit in Antalya. On June 18, we will inaugurate the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. I wish all this heavy traffic of visits, meetings, and programs to be fruitful and auspicious for our country, region, and the world."
