Türkiye, Sweden, Finland will meet on August 26 under a joint mechanism
ANKARA
As Sweden and Finland agree to cooperate in Turkey’s fight against terrorism, the three countries will gather on August 26 for the first meeting of the joint mechanism committed under the trilateral memorandum, the Turkish foreign minister said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on the final day of the 13th Ambassadors’ Conference in the Turkish capital Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Sweden and Finland have not yet fulfilled their commitments stemming from the trilateral memorandum signed at the NATO summit in Madrid in June and that they have not made any firm decisions. step on Türkiye’s request for the extradition of terrorists yet.
The top diplomat described the comments from Swedish and Finnish authorities about their pledges as “well-intentioned” and reiterated Turkey’s desire to see concrete steps from the two countries.
Normalization with Armenia
As the process of normalization of ties between Türkiye and Armenia is ongoing, Cavusoglu said that Ankara is doing everything in this process very openly and transparently.
He urged Armenia to be “a little more decisive and courageous … We, as Türkiye, are sincere in this regard. Armenia should also be sincere. We also see that Azerbaijan is sincere.”
The Turkish foreign minister also called on Armenia to stop “stopping tactics”.
“Although our dialogue in the normalization process is bilateral, we must all take measures for the stability of the entire South Caucasus,” he said, referring to Azerbaijan’s important role in relations.
Turkey’s accession to the EU, links to Greece
Cavusoglu also addressed EU relations and Turkey’s EU membership process, saying that “the EU would have been a global player” if it had accepted Ankara’s accession bid and “if we had done with the EU what we have done and are doing alone until today.”
Regarding relations with Greece, Cavusoglu recalled Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar’s comments on the need for confidence-building measures.
Neither the Greek defense minister nor others close to him have yet visited Türkiye for several years, he said, adding that the preparatory talks would be held for some time and that Türkiye is showing willingness but Greece is not.
He said the problems between the two neighboring countries must be addressed from a “very comprehensive” point.
Possible Syria anti-terrorist operation
In response to a question about a possible Turkish operation in northern Syria to eliminate terrorists, Cavusoglu underlined that Turkey’s counter-terrorism operations abroad are only aimed at eliminating the areas from terrorists.
The top Turkish diplomat said he had a brief chat with Faisal Mekdad, the Syrian regime’s foreign minister, at the October meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in the Serbian capital Belgrade, where he also spoke to other ministers at the meeting.
“We must somehow bring the opposition and the regime in Syria together to reach an agreement. Otherwise there will be no lasting peace,” he stressed.
There must be a strong administration in Syria to prevent the division of the country, Cavusoglu said. “The will that can dominate every corner of its countries can only be achieved through unity and solidarity,” he added.
He stressed the need to take steps to rebuild the war-torn civil Syria since 2011.
“No one wants to help with the reconstruction without a ceasefire and peace. This includes the EU, the important players in the world, as well as the international community. Therefore, as Türkiye, we are doing our best, but the basis of all this is a ceasefire. We will of course to intensify our work in this regard.”
Cavusoglu also stressed that Türkiye supports Syria’s territorial integrity more than anyone else. “The border integrity, territorial integrity and peace of a country next to us affects us directly,” he said.
Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected brutality.
UN estimates show that more than 8 million Syrians have either been internally displaced or become refugees in other countries since 2011.
The Syrian regime held presidential elections in May where authorities say Assad won 95.1% of the vote.
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