President Erdoğan performs Friday prayer at Ömer Öztürk Mosque in Istanbul
Following the prayer, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered reporters’ questions.
“PRESIDENT PUTIN IS A MAN OF HIS WORD”
In answer to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks during his annual news conference that President Erdoğan is a leader who “keeps his word like a real man”, President Erdoğan said that those very same remarks also describe the Russian leader himself.
“I have known Mr. Putin to be a man exactly like that since I first met him,” President Erdoğan said. “He is really a man of his word, a man honoring his promises. Given our bilateral ties, there are indeed few countries with which we enjoy such robust relations. I hope our relations, which we have maintained thus far, will continue as they are in the future as well. I see this in every issue, be it political, military, diplomatic, cultural or economic. Also in terms of our bilateral trade volume, we are walking towards our goals with determination and I believe we will continue to do so.”
“OUR AGREEMENT WITH CHINA IS FOR 50 MILLION VACCINES”
Answering a question about COVID-19 vaccination calendar in Turkey, President Erdoğan said Turkey has an agreement with China for 50 million doses of vaccine. Underlining that he will be vaccinated once the vaccines arrive in Turkey, President Erdoğan stated: “We hope we will then be able to fight the COVID-19 plague in the most successful manner. There is China at the first stage. There is also Germany. We will manage the process with vaccines to be brought from these two countries.”
“ISRAEL’S PALESTINE POLICY IS OUR REDLINE”
Turkey’s relations with Israel have not been cut off intelligence-wise, the President said in response to a question. “However, we have issues with some of the top-level people, as is the case in some other countries. The relations with Israel would be much more different were it not for this kind of issues at the top level.”
The President continued: “What is more, Israel’s policy on Palestine in particular is our redline. We cannot accept Israel’s policies on Palestine. We cannot accept Israel’s attitude toward our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We cannot accept its cruel behaviors therein and its stance regarding Palestinian lands. This is where we differ with Israel given our perception of justice and territorial integrity. Otherwise, we would like to take our relations with them as well to a better point.”
