President Erdoğan: We are the assurance of this region
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary held a joint press conference at the Presidential Complex following the 5th meeting of the Turkey-Hungary High Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
“OUR GOAL IS TO INCREASE OUR BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME TO $6 BILLION”
Expressing his pleasure over hosting Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary and his delegation, President Erdoğan underscored that Turkey’s economic and trade relations with Hungary were improving each passing day, and said: “Our goal at the first stage is to increase it to 6 billion dollars. Today, we discussed in detail with Mr. Prime Minister the joint steps we can take in line with this goal. We are pleased to see that our investors’ interest in Hungary increases. There is nearly $700-million worth of Turkish assets in Hungary where some 500 companies of ours operate in. We expect this figure to reach some 3 billion dollars with both the ongoing investments and the planned ones.”
Touching upon the return of the 101 historical artifacts, which were captured in Hungary, back to Turkey, President Erdoğan thanked Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary and all the Hungarian officials for their sensitivity and close cooperation in this issue, and voiced his wish that the Hungarian officials’ cooperation would set an example for other countries.
TURKIC COUNCIL SUMMIT
Drawing attention to the 8th Summit of the Turkic Council that would be held in Istanbul on November 12, 2021, President Erdoğan noted that Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary would attend the summit as well, and stated: “We are determined to advance our cooperation and solidarity with Hungary, our strategic partner, in the Turkic Council as well as on other regional and international platforms.”
REFUGEE CRISIS
Answering reporters’ questions following his remarks, President Erdoğan, in response to a question regarding the U.S.’ continuing shipment to Alexandroupoli and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ statement in which he said that the refugee crisis originated from Turkey, said: “Saying that ‘the refugee issue originates from Turkey,’ for a country that has been hosting nearly 5 million refugees amounts to ingratitude.”
“I cannot imagine what Greece would do should we open the gates,” underscored the President, adding that it was actually Greece which had left refugees for dead by piercing their boats. “Unfortunately, Mr. Mitsotakis and his aiders are saving the day with lies. They do not act honestly, therefore they do not gain regional confidence.”
“WE ARE THE ASSURANCE OF THIS REGION”
As regards the developments in Alexandroupoli, President Erdoğan underscored that not only Alexandroupoli but the entire Greece had turned into a U.S. base, and added: “Obviously, I discussed all this with Mr. Biden. And when our Minister of National Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs ask these issues during their talks with relevant officials, they evade the issue and do not act honestly.”
Further stressing that Turkey was among the top seven countries within NATO in terms of both the number of military personnel and financial support, President Erdoğan said: “We believe and trust in ourselves. We are the assurance of this region.”
