President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked to reporters on the plane on his way back to Turkey following his meetings in Qatar.
Referring to his visit to Qatar, President Erdoğan noted they had a successful working visit to Doha, where they attended the fifth meeting of the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee. Erdoğan told he had the chance to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar.
Erdoğan noted 7 agreements and a joint declaration had been signed with Qatar, saying: "We have strong political, economic and strategic relations with Qatar. With Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, we have further strengthened the ties we established with his father ".
President Erdoğan reminded Qatar had always stood by Turkey during the July 15 coup attempt and other attacks and added:
"We stood by Qatar in their hard times. We frankly showed our stance regarding the blockade. Those who imposed the blockade have been unsuccessful, and Qatar has strengthened itself in the process. I think it is a must to bring an end to this blockade and a new era of peace, stability and cooperation should be initiated in the Gulf region. Hostility does not help anyone. Today, there are around 500 Turkish companies in Qatar. Our efforts to promote our relations will continue in the fields of energy, investment, trade and defence industry, among others."
Erdoğan noted he and Tamim discussed regional issues in detail and addressed Syrian crisis, the establishment of Safe Zone, Astana and Geneva processes, developments in Libya and Iraq, the situation in Palestine, developments in Iran, Eastern Mediterranean and other developments.
Highlighting that he visited the Qatari-Turkish Combined Joint Task Force Command, Erdoğan said: “We came together with our troops here. Turkish troops are stationed here for peaceful purposes. I'd like to note that this mission significantly contributes to peace and stability in the region. Our hope, efforts and expectations are for peace and tranquillity to prevail in the Gulf region and throughout the Middle East. I believe my visit to Qatar will especially serve this purpose."
"There is no such project anywhere in the world"
Referring to a question about whether the issue of international donation for infrastructure investments in the safe zone would be raised during the NATO Summit, Erdoğan noted the following: "We will bring up the issue of an international donor meeting for refugees at the upcoming NATO summit on Dec. 3-4. I have personally brought up the issue with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Emir Al Thani. Qatar is not a NATO member but is sensitive about these issues. I have previously shared Turkey’s projects in the “peace corridor” region in north-eastern Syria, and Al Thani appreciated our projects.”
“There is no such project anywhere in the world. Turkey’s project will set a precedent for refugees. Once realized, it will be the first of its kind. It will include houses, a hospital, a school, houses of worship and social centres for refugees.” Erdoğan added.
Asked whether Qatar would provide financial support for the project, Erdoğan said: "Qatar is willing to jointly carry out these activities. There seems to be no other way to do this.” He then indicated that Turkey hosted 4 million refugees, 350,000 of whom were Kurdish, while 3.5 million were Arabs, Yazidis, Qaldanis and others. Erdoğan said Turkey was the only country that spent over $40 billion for the refugees, and the members of the Arab League, on the other hand, did not provide any financial support.
"Turkey's priority is to completely end attacks by the terrorist organization"
In response to a question about when the Operation Peace Spring would end, Erdoğan noted the following:
"It is not possible to set a date for the Operation Peace Spring to end. Our struggle here is not bound to a specific calendar. We have so far neutralized 1230 terrorists while 13 Turkish soldiers, as well as 241 members of the Syrian National Army, were martyred, and 22 civilians lost their lives. We must resolutely continue our struggle. Our priority is to end attacks by the terrorist organization. YPG/PYD is a terrorist organization yet some circles insist on referring to them as “Kurds”. This is an insult to our Kurdish brothers in Syria and Turkey. It is not fair to refer to terrorists based on their ethnicity. A terrorist is a terrorist. Our fight is not against Kurds, it is against the PYD, YPG and Daesh terrorists. We fight all of these terrorist organizations.”