Hakan Fidan: NATO members must honor the commitment to fight terrorism

Fidan spoke at a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Romanian Foreign Minister Luminica Odobescu after the fourth meeting of foreign ministers within the framework of the Turkey-Poland-Romania trilateral cooperation process, which took place in the Polish capital, Warsaw. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said progress could not be made with an approach that did not include the security of the Palestinians. "To end this human tragedy in Gaza, a permanent cease-fire must be established as soon as possible and the parties must sit down at the negotiating table and the Palestinian prisoners must be released," he said.
He stated that he explained to Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski and Romanian Foreign Minister Odobescu Turkey's priorities and expectations regarding the NATO summit. He said he explained to his colleagues the importance of implementing and following through on the decisions taken at the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius.
In particular, Fidan said: "The imposition of sanctions on each other by the member states of the alliance is incompatible with the spirit of the alliance. Sanctions, restrictions and obstacles between allies, especially in the defense industry, must be completely removed."
He stated that the commitments made in Vilnius must be respected. "Sanctions and restrictions affect not only the allied country that is subject to them. This anomaly significantly reduces NATO's deterrence and defense capabilities," the minister added.
The Turkish Foreign Minister emphasized that the fight against terrorism was discussed at the talks, and Turkey expects NATO to take concrete steps in this direction, recalling that Turkey has been paying a high price in the fight against terrorism for many years.
Fidan said that expecting allies to unconditionally support Turkey in the fight against terrorism is Ankara's natural right. He also emphasized: "The NATO alliance requires all members to show maximum solidarity with each other on an extremely sensitive issue, such as the fight against terrorism."
The Turkish foreign minister stressed that the promises made in relation to the fight against terrorism must be fulfilled by the NATO summit in Washington. | BGNES