President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a trilateral video conference with President of the European Union (EU) Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel.
At the meeting during which the enhancement of Türkiye-EU relations were discussed, mutual steps to be taken in the fight against the coronavirus and regional issues were also evaluated.
Noting during the meeting that they expected a result to pave the way for concrete initiatives from the EU Summit on March 25-26, President Erdoğan indicated that he believed the report to be submitted to the summit would reflect the proposals for the future of Türkiye-EU relations in line with the positive agenda from an objective and constructive standpoint.
Emphasizing that all mechanisms should be put into action and high-level dialogue processes should be resumed in order to advance the cooperation further, President Erdoğan pointed out that updating the March 18 Memorandum was the basis of activities for a positive agenda.
Underlining that it was essential to make rearrangements on topics such as visa liberalization, updating the Customs Union, and opening the negotiation chapters, President Erdoğan stated that the refugee burden and the irregular migration pressure on Türkiye were gradually increasing.
President Erdoğan pointed to constructive steps taken by Türkiye, which stood by the stability and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean within this context, and said that despite all provocations and aggressive actions of Greece and the Greek Cypriots, they maintained this stance.
Expressing that they believed the solution should be on the table and dialogue was the way to that end, President Erdoğan added that instead of imposing models proven to be ineffective on the parties on the island, realistic and new options concerning the Cyprus issue should be discussed from now on.
Reiterating his proposal for an international conference on the Eastern Mediterranean, President Erdoğan emphasized that Greece and the Greek Cypriots should not be allowed to exploit the EU Summit on the pretext of "union solidarity".
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Deputy Chair of AK Party Numan Kurtulmuş, Head of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT) Committee on Foreign Affairs Akif Çağatay Kılıç, AK Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik, Head of National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan, Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın and Chief Advisor to the President Zafer Çubukçu accompanied President Erdoğan at the meeting.