President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez held a joint press conference after the one-on-one and delegation meetings at the Moncloa Palace and the signing ceremony of the agreements between the two countries.
Thanking Sanchez for his hospitality, President Erdoğan reminded that the two countries increased their relations to the level of "Comprehensive Partnership" at the last summit meeting held in Ankara in 2021. Stating that they have taken important steps towards expanding relations to new areas with today's meetings and signed agreements, President Erdoğan said:
“We are about to reach the target of 20 billion dollars in bilateral trade volume. Our next goal is to reach 5 billion euros in the next 25 years. We consider the investments of more than 740 Spanish companies in Turkey as a sign of trust in Turkey. We want to see more Spanish investors in our country. Both the Business Forum and the Digital Technology Forum have been instrumental in discussing new cooperation opportunities. As governments, we will monitor the transformation of the work done in the meetings into concrete collaborations. “We will organize the 3rd meeting of our Economy and Trade Joint Committee in Turkey as soon as possible.”
Stating that they reviewed the advanced military cooperation and defense industry relations with Spain in detail during the meetings, President Erdoğan said: “Spain has been supporting the collective security of both Turkey as an ally and NATO with the air defense systems deployed in our country since 2015.” For this reason, I would like to express my gratitude once again, on behalf of myself and my nation, to our Spanish friends.” said.
President Erdoğan wished that this contribution would be taken as an example by some other NATO allies.
“SPAIN REINFORCED TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIP”
Stating that they also discussed Turkey-EU relations during the meetings, President Erdoğan said that Spain is one of the friendly countries that best understands Turkey's contributions to the EU and has given the strongest support to the membership process from the very beginning.
Stating that they hope this attitude of Spain will continue to grow stronger in the coming period, President Erdoğan said, “We also discussed with Mr. Head of Government the increasing threat of Islamophobia and foreign hostility across Europe. "Unfortunately, the situation resulting from the European Parliament elections has increased our concerns." he said.
President Erdoğan pointed out that the Alliance of Civilizations is an important platform in dealing with such challenges and noted that at the meeting, they discussed what can be done for the future as the alliance approaches its 20th anniversary, and confirmed the basis for the alliance.
Stating that the focus of the consultations is on the developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially Gaza, President Erdoğan said, “The decision taken by Spain to recognize Palestine is very important. "It is our sincere hope that this attitude of Spain will now set an example for countries that have not recognized Palestine." said.
“WE CONFIRMED OUR REINFORCEMENT TO UKRAINE'S SOVEREIGNTY”
President Erdoğan thanked Sanchez for his resilient stance and the Spanish people for their support to Gaza, and emphasized that Sanchez made great contributions to mobilizing the global conscience against the atrocities taking place.
President Erdoğan said, “As two countries, we will continue to work together to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Establishing a permanent ceasefire and ensuring the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid is our priority. “We will also monitor the implementation of the decision taken by the United Nations Security Council on Monday.” he used his words.
Stating that the Russia-Ukraine war is also on their agenda, President Erdoğan said, “We confirmed our strong support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. "I once again stated that we believe that the establishment of a fair, comprehensive and lasting peace for Ukraine is possible through negotiations." said.
Thanking all Spaniards, especially Sanchez, for hosting, President Erdoğan wished that the consultations and the decisions taken would be beneficial.
SPEECH OF SPANISH PRIME MINISTER PEDRO SANCHEZ
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez emphasized that Turkey and Spain "fully cooperated" for the recognition of the Palestinian state all over the world and invited other European countries to recognize the Palestinian state, as Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia did.
Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez, who held a joint press conference with President Erdoğan at the Prime Ministry residence (Moncloa) in Madrid, as part of the Turkey-Spain 8th Intergovernmental Summit, said that the two countries should work together to prevent Israel's 8-month-old genocide in Gaza and to mobilize the international community. He noted that he was working.
