President Erdoğan: We are determined to use the authority given by the Montreux Convention in a manner to prevent the escalation of the crisis
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the nation following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Complex.
“TÜRKİYE WANTS PEACE AND SERENITY IN ITS REGION”
President Erdoğan said: “We reiterate it at every opportunity that the world has been undergoing an extensive change for a while now. The century-old global governing system is collapsing. The World War I and World War II were fought not for justice but for allocation. We, unfortunately, were among the nations that were not at the table but on the menu. While overcoming that difficult period by founding our Republic and firmly defending it, we also had to pay enormous prices.”
“The political and economic system which the victors of the World War II designed in such a way as to protect their own interests is the main cause of the problems. This system, which had already been problematic, grew even more unbalanced with the end of the cold war. The crookedness in the global governing system, which we highlight at every platform by saying that the world is bigger than five and a fairer world is possible, manifests itself with every incident that occurs. This global governing and security system is the culprit for the tragedy nearing its 11th year in Syria as well as the bloodshed and suffering across the world including Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, Gaza, Yemen, Arakan and Libya. The dirty faces, which those caring about nothing but their own security and prosperity and treating all the other countries and nations as if they were merely an apparatus serving their priorities used to conceal behind fancy concepts, have now been fully revealed. We have witnessed that those who initially viewed with hesitation the questioning Türkiye initiated with its objection that the world is bigger than five have after a while started to acknowledge the rightfulness of our evaluation and embrace it,” the President stated.
“WE CONTINUED OUR MULTILATERAL DIPLOMATIC ATTEMPTS FOR PEACE AND STABILITY UNINTERRUPTEDLY”
President Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “The developments taking place in Ukraine are of a nature that attests to this fact. It makes the issue inextricably complicated that the countries that are a party to, and even a cause of, the problem holds a seat at the mediation and solution avenues within the United Nations Security Council.”
“I would like to strongly emphasize that Türkiye wants peace, serenity and prosperity in its region. We have displayed this stance of ours at every incident and in every place from Iraq to Syria, the Caucasus to the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean to the Balkans,” the President said.
As regards the crisis in Ukraine, President Erdoğan noted: “We called on Ukraine and Russia, both of which we see as our friends, to solve their problems through dialogue. The witness to our sincere efforts, including our mediation offer, is the Ukrainian and Russian leaders themselves. In the meantime, we continued our multilateral diplomatic attempts uninterruptedly for the establishment of peace and stability. However, the fears came true eventually, and guns were fired on February 24. We are truly saddened by the emergence of such a picture. We continue to express our country’s approach vis-à-vis this issue at every platform, including NATO leaders’ summit.”
“WE WILL NOT DISREGARD THE REGIONAL AND GLOBAL BALANCES”
“We are determined to use the authority given our country by the Montreux Convention over the vessel traffic in the straits in a manner to prevent the escalation of the crisis. As we have always said, we advocate respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity. We see Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s territory as unacceptable and appreciate the struggle waged by the administration and people of Ukraine,” the President said.
President Erdoğan added: “We have recorded the ambivalent attitude taken by Europe and the US since the eruption of the crisis between the two countries, particularly the incapable stance displayed since the morning of February 24, as a noteworthy case. These are actually the kind of experiences we had when our own borders came under threat in the past. They have been reaffirmed in the Ukrainian crisis. It is our own stance that matters to us in this process. Türkiye has always fulfilled, and will continue to fulfill, all of its responsibilities within the organizations and alliances it is a part of, particularly the UN, NATO and the EU.”
“We will of course make no concessions from our national interests; however, we will not disregard the regional and global balances, either. That is why we say we give up on neither Ukraine nor Russia. That is why we don’t give up on our political, economic and military alliances despite all the injustices and double standards we endure. That is why we put our humanitarian considerations above all the other considerations and continue to host so many refugees coming from across our region, from Syria in particular, despite all their problems. That is why we maintain close relations with all the oppressed regions from Africa to the South America and let down no one, no community and no state that asks us for help and needs our support,” the President said.
