President Erdoğan: It is in our hands to contribute to making peace, serenity and the culture of co-existence prevail once again in our region
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a joint press conference with President Isaac Herzog of Israel following their bilateral meeting at the Presidential Complex.
Expressing his great pleasure to welcome President Herzog of Israel in Ankara, President Erdoğan said: “I once again say ‘welcome to Türkiye’. I believe that this historic visit will constitute a new milestone in the Türkiye-Israel relations. It is our shared goal that we revive the political dialogue between our countries on the basis of common interests and respect for mutual sensitivities.”
Emphasizing that the development and strengthening of the relations between Türkiye and Israel was of great importance in terms of regional peace and stability, President Erdoğan said: “It is in our hands to contribute to making peace, serenity and the culture of co-existence prevail once again in our region. The further we can advance our bilateral cooperation and regional dialogue over a positive agenda, the easier it will get for us to address the issues about which we have differences of opinion. It is of particular importance that we unleash our potential for cooperation in various areas, particularly in economy and commerce.”
“THERE ARE MAJOR POSSIBILITIES OF COOPERATION IN SUCH AREAS AS TOURISM, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, HEALTH, AND DEFENSE INDUSTRY”
Noting that the trade volume with Israel increased by nearly 36 percent to reach $8.5 billion last year, President Erdoğan stated: “I believe that we will move that figure up to $10 billion in 2022 through our joint efforts. I expressed it to Mr. President that we are ready to cooperate in projects related to energy and energy security. Türkiye has the experience and capacity to implement such projects. The recent developments in our region have once again demonstrated the importance of energy security. There are major possibilities of cooperation in such areas as tourism, science, agriculture, advanced technology, agriculture, health, and defense industry. A 90-person delegation of ours had fruitful talks in Israel on March 5-8, which was organized by the Turkish Exporters Assembly. We will mutually encourage this kind of activities and thus will advance our cooperation.”
Describing the Palestine issue as one of the main items of the talks, President Erdoğan stated: “I shared with Mr. Herzog our approach and sensitivities on this issue in an open manner. I expressed the importance we attach to de-escalating the tensions in our region and preserving the vision for a two-state solution. I underscored the importance we attach to the preservation of Al-Quds’ historical status as well as Al-Aqsa Mosque’s religious identity and sanctity. I touched upon the importance of the betterment of the social and economic conditions for the Palestinians. I stressed that we expect Israeli authorities’ support in order for such organizations of ours as the Turkish Red Crescent and TIKA - which implement projects for the Palestinian people - to continue their activities. I reiterated our stance that anti-Semitism is a crime against humanity. Turks and Jews have displayed the most beautiful examples of peaceful co-existence throughout centuries. We will not allow this exceptional history of ours to be tarnished. We see that hate crimes have started to increase again with the coronavirus pandemic. We will maintain our principled and determined approach as regards the fight against anti-Semitism, animosity towards Islam, xenophobia and racism.”
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “During our meeting, we also exchanged views on recent regional and global issues, particularly Ukraine and the Eastern Mediterranean. I believe that the upcoming period will usher in new opportunities for our bilateral relations as well as for regional cooperation. I attach importance to the visit our Foreign Minister will pay to Palestine and Israel right after this visit. I also attach importance to the visit our Minister of Energy and Natural Resources will pay to Israel afterwards. I see this as an opportunity to re-implement the cooperation formerly initiated in energy. We now have four exploration vessels, one of them in the making. We also have two seismic research vessels. We can plan and conduct these works in cooperation in the Mediterranean. Before ending my remarks with these thoughts, I wish for this visit, taking place after a long hiatus, to lead to auspicious outcomes. I once again thank Mr. President and his delegation.”
