Support visit to Türkiye from NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg: This was the deadliest, most terrible disaster we have ever seen

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made a joint press statement with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In his statements, Minister Cavusoglu said NATO took action for support from the first moment. Minister Cavusoglu emphasized that Sweden and Finland should fulfill the obligations of the agreement signed in Madrid regarding the NATO membership process.

Highlights from Minister Cavusoglu's statements:

We are working together to provide shelter opportunities to our country as quickly as possible. Yesterday we asked NATO to urgently activate our allies' strategic air capabilities. It was demanded to deliver 20 thousand winter tents in Pakistan. We are working to bring these tents to the country quickly.

Mr. Secretary General will also meet with Mr. President today, and after the meeting, they will go to the quack-hit region. Minister Akar will greet them there.

They will also have seen the location of the shelter centers to be provided by NATO. When we had the opportunity of this bilateral meeting, we also brought up some regional issues.

We also expressed our expectations regarding the membership process of Sweden and Finland. Provocations were also not helpful at all. As a result, we, as Türkiye, are in favor of strengthening NATO.

We are one of the first 5 countries to contribute to NATO's missions.

In the candidacy process of Sweden and Finland, the process went together. We can evaluate Finland's NATO membership process separately from Sweden. Türkiye's attitude towards the membership of these two countries from the very beginning has been very clear. We sat down and negotiated so that our expectations were met.

Headlines from Stoltenberg's comments:

It was a pleasure to see you once again. I also want to thank you for the commitment you have shown to our alliance.

I am here to give a message of solidarity to Türkiye and Syria.

It is the deadliest, most dreadful disaster since the founding of NATO on the territory of our Alliance.

On behalf of NATO, I would like to express my deepest and most sincere condolences. We would also like to applaud the courage of those who carried out the first emergency activities in Türkiye.

Thousands of aid and emergency search and rescue teams were sent by different countries.

NATO allies continue to offer their support. Military planes are working day and night to deliver international aid to the area here. It's time to stand together.

I think it's time for both Sweden and Finland to sign their membership. Both countries have taken important steps. I strongly condemned the burning of the Quran. At the same time, I think it is important for Sweden to prevent such acts. It is also important that the Swedish government condemns these acts. I think there will be steps that understand Türkiye's concerns. That's why I think it's time for the membership of these two countries to be ratified. It's Türkiye's decision to approve or not.

(turkiyegazetesi.com)