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President Erdoğan: We attach great importance to Kosovo’s development

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu of Kosovo  held a joint press conference following their tête-à-tête and the meeting between the delegations at the Presidential Complex.

“THE VALUE TÜRKİYE ATTACHES TO KOSOVO’S SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY IS KNOWN BY ALL”

President Erdoğan said: “We exchanged our views on the developments taking place in our region, the Balkans and Ukraine in particular. Besides our political relations, we reviewed potential steps that could be taken in order to enhance our cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, energy, defense industry, culture, education, healthcare and anti-terror fight.”

Underscoring that the value Türkiye attached to Kosovo’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political unity was known by all, President Erdoğan noted: “We as one of the first countries to have recognized Kosovo have provided support for our Kosovar brothers and sisters in every area since the very first day. We attach great importance to Kosovo taking its rightful place at the international arena as well as to its development. We are very pleased that the Kosovar people grow more prosperous with our country’s contributions as well.”

Pointing out that TİKA, which he underlined had been carrying out activities in Kosovo since 2004, had successfully completed nearly 700 projects there, President Erdoğan noted: “Turkish companies, for their part, have thus far made investments valued at some 400 million Euros in Kosovo. Our firms stand ready to increase their investments in Kosovo, especially in the field of energy.” 

“OUR BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME REACHED SOME 600 MILLION DOLLARS”

Drawing attention to Kosovo’s increasing exportation to Türkiye, President Erdoğan said: “Despite the pandemic, our bilateral trade volume reached some 600 million dollars last year, having increased by more than 52 per cent. I believe this figure will further increase once the world eliminates the impacts of the pandemic. The Kosovar Turkish community constitutes the social aspect of our relations with Kosovo. We proudly follow the contributions made by our kinsmen to Kosovo’s development in every sphere of life.”

“It is of utmost importance that all the actors in and beyond our region prioritize regional peace and stability. Türkiye wants Kosovo to develop good relations with all its neighbors, and support the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue process. It is our sincere desire that the process will end as soon as possible with a comprehensive agreement in a way to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region. Let me reiterate, we, with this understanding, stand ready to do our best for regional peace and stability,” the President stressed.

Stating that the joint fight against FETO was also on the agenda of the talks, President Erdoğan said: “It is extremely important to eliminate this terrorist organization which threatened our democracy and nefariously killed our 251 citizens. I conveyed my treasured counterpart our rightful expectations about the steps we want to be taken on the basis of our friendly and brotherly ties.”

TÜRKİYE’S EU MEMBERSHIP PROCESS

Answering reporters’ questions following his remarks, President Erdoğan, in response to a question regarding Türkiye’s membership process to the European Union given the latest developments about Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU, said: “Frankly speaking, we appreciate the efforts to admit Ukraine to the EU. It is a nice development but I wonder why the EU members still fear, or hesitate to admit Türkiye to the Union. Why don’t you still admit Türkiye to the EU?”

President Erdoğan continued as follows: “I ask the EU member countries to display the sensitivity they display regarding Ukraine for Türkiye as well. Or, will you put Türkiye on your agenda when any country declares war on or attack us? There are currently countries within the EU which we should cooperate in defense industry. Most of them are NATO members as well. Although, they are a member of NATO, of which Türkiye is also a member, they avoid such cooperation. We are united, we are allies. Why do you still not give us such equipment and ammunition which you should have given? It is a requirement of our solidarity as well but they do not give. Or, are they waiting for another war to break out? They are not sincere. NATO members and the EU members, all they do is talk.”

“As Mr. Zelensky delivers his speech, they gave him standing ovation at the EU, at the parliament. It is a nice development. So, as the saying goes, ‘a good scare is worth more than good advice.’ All they want is this, Türkiye does not want any of this. Türkiye is a country that always preserves its stance and always stands with all the oppressed and the wronged. We call on both Russia and Ukraine to cease fire and contribute to the world peace,” the President said.

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