During his return flight from Italy, where he attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commented on the Summit and answered the journalists’ questions.
Noting that the G20 Rome Summit was completed successfully, President Erdoğan stated that productive meetings were held in Rome for two days around the main theme of “People, Planet and Prosperity”, and they reviewed the work carried out throughout the year and discussed global economic developments.
Pointing out that the adverse economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, against the health dimension of which significant progress had been ensured, still continued, President Erdoğan stated that commodity prices and debt ratios, in particular, increased significantly.
Noting that the pressure of global inflation was also increasing, President Erdoğan said, “In this context, we evaluated what measures we could take to increase the resilience of our economies. We touched on the importance of cooperation in the fight against global inflation.”
Stating that they exchanged views on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the global health system at the meeting, President Erdoğan said that it was emphasised that injustice and discrimination should be prevented in terms of vaccination.
President Erdoğan stated that once the TURKOVAC vaccine, which is currently being tested in clinical trials, is approved, it will be made available to the Turkish people and all humanity.
Stating that one of the main topics of the G20 Summit was “Climate and Environment”, President Erdoğan said:
“I personally underlined that we had done our part in the fight against climate change and ratified the Paris Agreement. I brought to the attention of our counterparts that we were ready to assume a pioneering and proactive role in this matter. On the occasion of the Summit, I met with Prime Minister Draghi of Italy -the host country-, European Commission President von der Leyen, Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands, President Widodo of Indonesia -the host country of the upcoming G20-, President Biden of the US, President Macron of France, President of the European Council Michel, and Chancellor Merkel of Germany. I also talked to the Candidate Chancellor; in fact, they were there together. Again, during the Summit, I had meetings with participants from different countries. I hope that the consultations and opinions we have held during my visit will yield beneficial results.”
“We had a candid meeting with Biden”
President Erdoğan answered the questions of the journalists after his remarks.
Upon the question, “What was on the outlines of your meeting with US President Joe Biden? What are your assessments on the future of Turkish-American relations?” President Erdoğan said, “We had a candid and constructive meeting with Mr Biden. Mr Mevlüt (Çavuşoğlu), Mr İbrahim (Kalın) and Mr Hakan (Fidan) were with me at the meeting. Mr Biden was also accompanied by the Secretary of State and those responsible for security and intelligence. We continued the meeting in a very positive atmosphere.”
“In addition to strengthening our cooperation on Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean, we have decided to continue our economic relations much more intensively”, said President Erdoğan, adding that they gave the necessary instructions for this.
Stating that they told the Treasury and Finance Ministers to meet with their counterparts much more frequently, President Erdoğan noted:
“In this way, I hope we will reach our target of 100 billion dollars in bilateral trade volume in the economy, and we will continue on this path. We also had the opportunity to discuss the steps to be taken in the context of the NATO alliance and strategic partnership. Above all, we have this F-35 issue. As you know, we made a payment of 1 billion 400 million dollars. Regarding this, we talked about the procurement of F-16s. I did not see any negative attitude from them in this regard either. On the contrary, our defence ministers will meet concerning this matter, and we hope to finalise this sensitive issue concerning the relations between the two countries by having our foreign ministers meet with their counterparts. Biden said, ‘We may not get results very soon. You know, it has to go through two different processes, the House of Representatives and the Senate. As is known, it’s a 50-50 case, but I will do my best.’ I said to him, ‘I believe you can achieve this, and I see that currently, you have the upper hand in this matter.’ Inshallah, our countries’ defence ministers will continue their talks with each other as well. If we can finalise this matter with our friends who were at the meeting today through their efforts focused on it, then we will have two important agenda items: procurement and modernisation of the F-16s in our inventory. In the meantime, inshallah, it will be possible to do all of these.”
“The meeting lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes”
Upon the question, “You presented your book ‘A Fairer World Is Possible’ to Mr Biden. The other book was ‘Türkiye’s Green Development Initiative’. What feedback did you get about these two?” President Erdoğan said, “I gave both my book ‘A Fairer World is Possible’ and ‘Türkiye’s Green Development Initiative’ as gifts to Mr Biden. I penned the introduction in the book ‘Türkiye’s Green Development Initiative’. To Biden, I said, ‘You know, I am an environmentalist, too.’ When I gave these books to him, he said, ‘Let me present my own book to you as well.’ He also has a book he wrote about his late son.”
Upon the question, “You said of Mr Biden, ‘I cannot say we got off to a good start with Mr Biden’ after comparing him to his predecessors after the United Nations Summit. Has your opinion changed after this meeting?” President Erdoğan said, “Conditions change according to the atmosphere. We had different expectations at the time of the UN Summit, and when those different expectations were not met, things took a slightly different turn. That development was different. For this meeting, the media also said, ‘It will be a 20-minute meeting’. Our meeting lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes. You see now how the media is taking us on?”
Stating, “They may as well say, ‘He will not accept, he will not meet’, or they themselves may appoint 20 minutes for a meeting, but our meeting lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes”, President Erdoğan said that they later commenced to other programs.
Stating that there was a different process with Mr Biden since the time the UN General Assembly was held, President Erdoğan said, “Now our Türkevi is right across the UN. We will see what time will unfold. Maybe we invite him, meet him there, why not? We also reached an understanding and agreed to establish a common mechanism for all issues between us, especially security, defence, trade, the fight against terrorism and regional issues. Inshallah, our relevant officials themselves will handle these issues.”
“We have agreed on the main priorities”
Upon the question, “The United States has openly supported the PKK/YPG so far. Despite all the warnings of Türkiye, they went as far as carrying out drills while the weapons training was going on. You actually gave a very clear and obvious message on this issue. You signalled an operation to be launched as long as the responsibilities are not to be met and said, ‘We will launch an operation in this region if necessary.’ What do we expect from this new process, and how will the next process affect the possibility of Türkiye’s operation?” President Erdoğan said:
“Of course, the operation can be launched when it is needed. There is no going back from it. First of all, it is impossible for us to spare any effort in our fight against terrorist organisations. If there is the terrorist organisation PKK/PYD-YPG against us, we will do whatever is necessary. We will not budge on that either. We have always told them about this, and we are going to keep saying it. If we are to remain allies in NATO in the future, our partner with whom we are allied as a NATO ally should not resort to such a thing. In the same vein, we have come to an agreement today that we should work together on this issue, which is one of Türkiye’s main priorities in the period ahead. They did not have a negative attitude on that issue either.”
Upon the question, recalling his reception of Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy, “There was a phrase, Mr Draghi, as an appointed prime minister, repeatedly used against an elected president. This, naturally, received a great reaction in Türkiye. There was also news in the Italian media that you came to Italy and that this reception was an expectation for amends. What kind of approach did Draghi take to make up for this damaged situation, has this issue ever come up during your talk, and how was the atmosphere between you?” President Erdoğan said that they had done very good and successful works with Italy since the Berlusconi era.
Voicing that they took a very serious step in the defence industry at that time, they bought Atak helicopters by agreement with Italy, and they started the process with them, President Erdoğan continued:
“There are many customers, especially for Atak helicopters, but our only problem is that we cannot procure the engine required, from Rolls-Royce, in the amount we want, and, unfortunately, we cannot be very successful in exporting them. If we had plenty of Rolls-Royce engines for Atak helicopters, we would reach significant export figures. In this period, I hope we will have made another serious leap in the defence industry when we meet the demand for Atak helicopters by restarting and taking steps in this regard and ensuring their supply of engines. Things would not remain with UAV, UCAV and Akıncı UAV. At the same time, we would reach a different place in the world with our Atak helicopters. Apart from that, I see that Biden does not have a different approach in this regard, and he also has a positive attitude or expectation. It is my hope that we will finalise this process successfully as soon as possible.”
Upon being asked about the atmosphere of the meeting with President Emmanuel Macron of France and his evaluations of the issues addressed, President Erdoğan stated that they had discussed 5-6 key topics in the meeting.
Noting that Libya was at the centre of those topics, President Erdoğan said:
“He wants to hold a conference in Paris akin to the Berlin Conference on Libya. In a way, this is like taking it upon yourself to address it. He is insistent that we participate as co-chairs. I told him that this conference had already taken place in Berlin. Moreover, you have invited Greece, Israel, and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus... We cannot attend a Paris Conference in which they do. He paused and said, ‘What if we work on it and designate special representatives.’ I responded by stating that this is our condition, and they will not participate. If Greece is to attend it, there is no need for us to send a special representative or anything else. If you are really insistent, you can provide the names of your special representatives, and we can evaluate; however, we cannot do so if Greece, Israel, and the Greek Cypriot Administration are a part. This is the first thing. Now he will inform us of their names, and we will as well; they will confer among themselves. This, however, cannot occur until our conditions are met.”
Noting that another topic addressed during the meeting with Macron was the Afghanistan issue, President Erdoğan stated, “Regarding Afghanistan, as you are aware, we have withdrawn our military forces, our soldiers are no longer present there. They have the problems; the French can be there from time to time, and they may need to be extracted… We are currently working with Qatar, making an effort, and I told him that we had no intention of abandoning the Afghan people in Afghanistan.”
Adding that the South Caucasus issue was also on the agenda, President Erdoğan said, “We stated that we were there last week, and positive steps are being taken in the Southern Caucasus at the moment, and our brother Mr Ilham Aliyev wishes to continue these positive steps determinedly. He even met with Pashinyan. During the meeting, they talked about creating a six-sided platform in the region. We will be able to establish a platform for peace if Russia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Iran, Georgia, and Armenia all agree. If we succeed in this, it will be well-directed. During my meeting with Macron, I reiterated once again that our military forces were in Libya as trainers and in agreement with the national government of Libya.”
“Our sole concern, as Türkiye, is to be powerful”
Upon the question that Greece purchased Rafale jets and frigates pursuant to an agreement with France, and France agreed to cooperate with Greece in particular areas in the case of a confrontation, President Erdoğan said, “We told both Mr Biden and Mr Macron about this issue. We asked, ‘What is this Alexandroupoli matter?’ The establishment of such a base there causes our people and us great distress. Regarding this issue, Macron could not hold the sack and said, ‘They have money’. I replied to him: “Look, they are cheating on you. They have no money. I know that they only owe 400 billion euros to the West.” He said, ‘They have money. Money matters!’ There is, of course, the matter of the base. However, our sole concern, as Türkiye, about these developments is that we will be powerful.”
Recalling that some members of the US Senate asked not to impose sanctions on India, another country that has purchased the S-400, President Erdoğan stated the following remarks upon the question “Lockheed Martin also established a factory in India called the F-21, which is identical to F-16’s top model. While they debate whether to deliver the F-16 to Türkiye due to the S-400, their strategy toward India is this. How do you evaluate this?”
“After our meeting in Rome, I see that there is no such thing. At the moment, both our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence will conclude this matter through the meetings with their interlocutors, and we will follow up on the matter closely via the meetings we will hold with him. The India issue is important! Because India is not a NATO member, but Türkiye is in NATO and your partner. Therefore, you do not come to terms with your partner in NATO, but instead, you attempt to take such a step with India, which is not in NATO. For sure, this upsets us.”
“Currently, we have a claim regarding the vaccine”
When asked for his opinions on issues such as the world’s access to vaccines, Europe’s and G20 countries’ commitments to combat global climate change and the tax issue on the digital global international companies, President Erdoğan said: “Currently we have a claim regarding the vaccine. Our claim is TURKOVAC, and when we initiate mass production of TURKOVAC by the end of this year, we will share this with the whole world without any jealousy. While sharing this with the world, we will almost give the message, ‘You didn’t do it, but we are doing it.”
Pointing out that they adopted the same approach in the electronic ventilators they produced in a very short time, President Erdoğan said, “From the moment we started to produce those ventilators, we sent them to many countries, especially African countries, which did not have them. We did it voluntarily, not self-interestedly. Similarly, we delivered a large number of oxygen cylinders abroad. All of this was critical at the time. Of course, after TURKOVAC’s mass production starts, we hope that we will change the balances in the world to some extent.”
Regarding the financial commitment to combat global climate change, President Erdoğan said, "The promises made are really big. But setting aside the financial point, there was no significant support, particularly for African countries. Merkel had a positive statement regarding African countries, saying, 'Certain endorsements should be given to those countries. When it comes to African countries, it is we who provide the most critical assistance and goals. As Türkiye, we have provided all kinds of assistance to African countries within this process. We did not leave them on their own. We've also supplied them with vaccines. We haven't produced it ourselves yet, but we have shipped a significant number of vaccines to African countries that we purchased for ourselves. We've sent ventilators in particular."
Relations with Germany
In response to the question, "What do you think about the future German Chancellor? Has he been informed about the significance of Türkiye?" President Erdoğan said, "For me, he is a sympathetic person. Let's not forget that he served as a minister under the German administration. That is, he is not an outsider. Actually, he is not a stranger to us either. He won't have any trouble adapting. Hopefully, he says, they would form the government in November-December. I have confidence in him.".
The Balkans
Noting that an alarming tension has escalated in the Balkans, upon the question, "Especially the Serbian leader Dodik's statements are frightening. What are your assessments on this matter?" Erdoğan stated, "It is crucial to preserve the peace and tranquillity that has been established with difficulties in the Balkans and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This place holds a special place in the hearts of the Turkish people and our bilateral relations. We always stand by the brotherly countries here. We hope that from this point onwards too, the steps will be taken, so that atmosphere of peace, tranquillity, and trust is sustained. We will keep supporting this process, also from this point on."
"We have a responsibility to uphold our nation's esteem"
President Erdoğan responded to a question regarding why he did not attend the leaders' summit in Scotland by recalling that there were security protocol standards in place required for the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties Summit, which was held in Glasgow.
Indicating that these were the protocol requirements that were always applied to him and all other leaders on all international visits, Erdoğan said the following.
"We were advised, however, that these couldn't be met at the last minute. Later, we discovered that the standards in our denied request could be offered for another country on an exceptional basis. This was not in line with diplomatic practice. We couldn't have settled for it. Our relevant units maintained a firm stance in their negotiations. Boris Johnson, thankfully, was also engaged in the process. At first, he claimed that the problem was resolved. But, at the very last moment, he got back to us and informed us that the Scottish party was making things difficult. When our requests were not honoured, we opted not to go to Glasgow. Ultimately, this was a matter of not just our security but also our nation's esteem. We have a responsibility to uphold our nation's esteem. We will not allow our country's reputation and dignity to be compromised anywhere. Thus, we have been reminded once again that the only way to establish a fairer world is through an egalitarian approach."