President Erdoğan: As Türkiye, we continue our attempts aimed at achieving a ceasefire

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Andrzej Duda of Poland held a joint press conference following their working dinner at the Çankaya Presidential Palace.

Expressing his pleasure to host in Türkiye President Duda of Poland, an ally and strategic partner of Türkiye’s, President Erdoğan said that the bilateral relations and the Russia-Ukraine war had been discussed during their bilateral meeting and the ensuing working dinner.

“WE HAVE AGREED ON THE NEED TO SPEED UP DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS TO STOP THE WAR”

Noting that they, as the two NATO allies, had exchanged detailed views during their meeting, President Erdoğan said: “The NATO Leaders’ Summit will take place on March 24. We can have the opportunity there to continue our talks from where we have left off. That is so because the process between Russia and Ukraine is continuing. As the two NATO allies, we will have the opportunity to discuss once more what can be done and what kind of steps can be taken.”

President Erdoğan stated: “We have agreed on the need to speed up diplomatic efforts to stop the war. As Türkiye, we continue our attempts aimed at achieving a ceasefire. In this regard, our Foreign Minister is holding talks in Moscow today. He will proceed to Ukraine tomorrow. We are conducting an intensive shuttle diplomacy. We will maintain our consultations and cooperation with Poland as well in the meantime. As you know, the Extraordinary Summit of NATO Leaders will take place in Brussels on March 24.”

President Erdoğan drew attention to the exemplary stance Poland displayed by opening its doors to nearly 2 million refugees fleeing the war.

“OUR TRADE VOLUME WITH POLAND HAS REACHED $8.3 BILLION” 

Congratulating President Duda for that hospitality of Poland’s, President Erdoğan said: “As a country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world for the past 8 years, Türkiye is the country that can understand the best the challenges Poland faces. I hereby once again thank the Polish authorities for facilitating the border crossings and evacuation of our citizens in Ukraine. Their support for the delivery of our humanitarian aid to Ukraine is praiseworthy. During our talks, we also focused on the idea of crowning our strategic partnership with the foundation of the High-level Strategic Cooperation Council. We will accelerate our works in a bid to hold the first meeting of the council in Warsaw in the second half of this year. Our trade volume has increased by 28% to reach $8.3 billion this year despite the pandemic conditions. We are very close to our $10 billion target. We are also pleased by our growing relations in defense industry.”

Highlighting the close cooperation Türkiye and Poland enjoy on regional issues and at multilateral platforms, President Erdoğan expressed his belief that Türkiye’s Polish friends would maintain their constructive attitude and support for the improvement of the relations between Türkiye and the European Union. 

PRESIDENT DUDA OF POLAND: “TÜRKİYE PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE”

President Duda of Poland, for his part, stated that Türkiye, as a very important country in geographical and political respects, played a major role in the establishment of pace.

Stressing his wish for the killing of civilians and Russia’s attacks to come to an immediate end, President Duda thanked President Erdoğan for his efforts to that end.

Drawing attention to the economic and military cooperation between Türkiye and Poland, President Duda stated that the two countries would continue to enhance their cooperation.