WALL – Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made statements on the television program he attended. Cavusoglu denied the allegations that President Erdogan and Syrian President Assad would meet in Uzbekistan, saying, “It is not true, there is no such thing. Assad is not invited there,” he said.
Speaking about the dialogue agenda between Damascus and Ankara, Çavuşoğlu stated that there were contacts through the intelligence services and said, “Steps must be taken for lasting peace. Dialogue is not essential.” The highlights of Çavuşoğlu’s statements are as follows:
“There is a civil war that has lasted for more than 11 years in Syria. Its reflections are obvious. The existence of terrorist organizations. People want to return to their homes, but cannot. There are also those who hesitate because of the regime’s fear and the inability to support the people returning to the places controlled by the regime. We said that the most important process is the political process. We took a lot of initiative. Only the Astana format has survived. The regime also needs to see it now, the country will be divided by fighting. On the one hand, the fight against the PKK, on the other hand, the preparation of the constitution, which we call reconciliation, the UNSC resolution 2254, That’s why the opposition, which we also support, formed the negotiation committee. The opposition is well-intentioned and constructive. There is resistance from the regime, they have not made any progress. We are already around a table in the format of Astana, we are also present at the constitutional commission meeting. Taking steps for a lasting peace in Syria We need to say these things. The opposition should not be seen as a terrorist organization by the regime. We were on the side of the opposition.
‘ESAD IS NOT INVITED THERE’
It is not necessary for dialogue, but what is the purpose of the talks? The country needs to be cleared of terrorists, our border security is important, Syria’s territorial integrity and political integrity are important. It is important that people can return to the country safely. It’s not necessarily a requirement, but what is its purpose and goal? Our Syria policy is always solution-oriented.
(Iran’s triple summit claim) Such a thing is not true. Assad is not invited there either.
Our operations are important for Syria. Fighting against a terrorist organization here is a right for us stemming from international law. The regime has no power to do this. No meeting needed. Every country that fights with each other and is hostile to each other will oppose our operation. It shows how accurate our next actions are.
‘RECONCILIATION’ MESSAGE
I said that the regime and the opposition should be reconciled. The aim of the consensus is a new constitution, an urgent election of the country under the auspices of the UN. In this framework, a negotiation committee was established and the constitutional commission was convened. If there is no consensus, how will they write a constitution between the regime and the opposition, and lead the country to elections? If these steps are taken, the Syrian people will make the decision after the election. The only solution for the future of the country is the political process and this is achieved by consensus.
Confidence-building steps have been taken, steps have been taken regarding the exchange of prisoners, even there, the opposition says they could not find the names the regime wanted, but they do not.
NORMALIZATION PROCESS WITH ISRAEL AND REACTION TO CHP’s ÖZTRAK
The appointment of ambassadors will take place in the coming days. We are preparing a comprehensive decree. We have ambassadors to return, we have ambassadors to appoint. We worked, we will present it to our President. We also told our President, we will present it at the first opportunity, the draft is almost finished. There are alternative names. We look at whether our friends have the ability to become ambassadors, whether they have merit or education. It doesn’t matter what the difference is from inside to outside. We are doing this work in harmony. CHP spokesperson said, ‘The AK Party’s beneficiary’. They saw that the country is doing good things in foreign policy, and they are making absurd claims to weaken where we are strong. I can’t be diplomatic about this, I’m extremely angry, what do you mean AK Party’s beneficiary? We will appoint suitable names according to merit, and we will appoint the most important name to Israel.
PALESTINE’S VIEW ON TURKEY-ISRAEL DIALOGUE
Both on the Palestinian President and Hamas side, they want our relations with Israel to be normalized. Through this dialogue, we will better defend the Palestinian cause. It should not mean that Turkey will make concessions on the Palestinian cause. They say our relations with Israel are also important to them.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
(South Cyprus’s gas discovery in the Eastern Mediterranean) The news was given in some newspapers as the area that overlaps with our continental shelf, but it is not true. Our continental shelf also passes through it, but it passes through it. We do not allow them to enter our continental shelf in this way. Drilling works and seismic research studies continue inside our own continental shelf. The solution in the Eastern Mediterranean is fair distribution of revenues. We have made necessary notifications to both the UN and the EU on this issue. The TRNC repeated our recommendations over and over. Instead of equitable sharing by trusting the EU, Greek Cypriots and Greece are trying to usurp the rights of the TRNC and Turkey, we cannot allow this.
‘GREECE NEEDS TO STOP THESE POLICIES’
Greece needs to give up its false policy. Against Turkey from everywhere. These things started shortly after lunch in Istanbul, the things that were discussed about the meal are obvious, let’s not involve third countries, let the negotiations be result-oriented, let’s be in dialogue. A week passes, propaganda against Turkey begins. They violate the rights of the Western Thrace Turks, they violate the status of the islands. We are not empty-handed either. Greece should abandon these policies. If they cooperate, they should calculate neither their gains nor their losses if they are the other way around. As long as this policy continues, it is useless to soften.
F-16S
What happened in the Greek lobby was the initiative of a member of Congress of Greek origin, it is not binding. The decision was made by the Senate. They will combine the two, then it will become legal. The US administration has a positive outlook, technical negotiations are progressing well, but the administration also knows that we will not buy F-16s or any other products in such a way that our hands are tied.
APPLICATION PROBLEM FOR EU AND US VISA
We’re seeing the opposite here. This is how our people see it. We consider these as the steps taken to leave the AK Party government in a difficult situation before the election. At the beginning of September, our friends will call the ambassadors of western countries to the ministry and they will make the necessary warnings. If it does not improve after that, we will also take countermeasures.
‘NORMALIZATION PROCESS WITH EGYPT IS PROGRESSING SLOWLY’
The normalization process with Egypt has started, but it is progressing slowly. Egypt also focused on its domestic politics. It’s not a negative thing, but it needs to gain momentum. We have not yet been able to catch up with Egypt as we have achieved with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
‘WE WERE THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WANTED TO SABOT THE GRAIN AGREEMENT’
We were hopeful after the meeting in Istanbul. There is an approach in Istanbul, but everything has changed. Images from Buça came and the atmosphere changed, they moved away from the table. I think that was the breaking point. How will the international community deal with the ceasefire at this point, there should be a just ceasefire, a ceasefire protecting Ukraine’s border and territorial integrity. We are one of the countries that gave the strongest support to the territorial integrity of Ukraine on the Crimea issue and after the Russian attack. There are countries in the West that want the war to continue. There are NATO member countries. I don’t mean only USA, I mean member countries. There were also those who wanted to sabotage the grain deal. It’s not the USA, but I’ll say it. The contribution of the USA was as follows. Such as removing the export barrier of Russian fertilizer, reaching the ports, banking transactions. There were also countries from Europe that wanted to sabotage it. We have not lost hope, we continue our efforts. In the Tehran meeting, he shared his suggestions to Mr. Putin about the establishment of a ceasefire during the Sochi meeting. He also emphasized the importance of the ceasefire in his meeting with Mr. Zelenski. He also reminded that he is ready to bring the two leaders together. Grain is running smoothly. No serious problems so far. Little things happen in technical matters, our friends take care of it. 33 ships left. He started to travel to African countries as well.
TURKEY-ARMENIA RELATIONS
Our special representatives met 4 times. The task of our special representatives is the gradual normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. After the victory of Azerbaijan, we are taking steps to establish lasting peace in the South Caucasus. Start of flights etc. important steps have been taken. Some steps have been taken regarding trade. It is not a realistic approach to see this process we are carrying out as independent from the process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Permanent peace in the South Caucasus can only be achieved through a comprehensive and permanent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan made an offer, Armenia did not respond. A joint border commission was established. These works need to be done, there is also the Zangezur Corridor. Armenia gets uncomfortable when I say these things. He said that do you really want peace or not? It was the land you occupied. They are behaving as if Azerbaijan has taken over Armenia’s lands. As soon as the Armenian peacekeeping force enters, Armenia will withdraw completely, but two years have passed and there are still Armenian soldiers there. Azerbaijan has built a parallel road to Lachin, and the peacekeepers will shift here. There was a rightful intervention of Azerbaijan while withdrawing from these settlements, they are burning and destroying these places (Armenian soldiers). Everyone can see our sincerity in normalization with Armenia, but Armenia should also know and not be surprised. Do we have a separate property from Azerbaijan or not? There is no doubt about our good intentions. We want peace.” (NEWS CENTER)