The Minister of Defense of Turkey, Yasar Güler, granted, today Saturday, a press conference, making the assessment of his ministry for the end of the year.

In his interview, the Turkish minister spoke of “historic period” in the development of Turkey’s relations with Greece and pointed out that Ankara aims to continue the process with good neighborly relations, dialogue and a positive agenda.

But he particularly emphasized that Turkey will never endanger its national interests, while regarding the Cyprus issue he said that the solutions proposed so far have not yielded results and “the only and definitive solution on the island is the securing of sovereign equality and equal international regime of the “Turkish Cypriot people”.

In detail, regarding the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, Yassar Guler said:

“We believe that we are going through a historic period in the development of our relations with Greece and that a solution-oriented approach and an honest and constructive relationship will benefit both countries.

The meeting on Confidence Building Measures held in Ankara on 13 November was a good opportunity to further develop our relations with Greece.

On this occasion, the talks between the delegations, which had been suspended for more than two years, resumed and a consensus was reached to resume the talks next year. It was also agreed to establish a “Point of Contact” mechanism to facilitate the implementation of Confidence Building Measures.

On December 7, another important step was taken by the two countries under the leadership of our president in the framework of the 5th session of the Supreme Cooperation Council. In our meetings, issues such as the reduction of tension in the Aegean, the maintenance of open channels of communication and the resolution of problems within the framework of good neighborly relations and the spirit of alliance came to the fore.

In the context of the Declaration of Athens signed between the two countries, we aim to continue the process with good neighborly relations, dialogue and a positive agenda.

Of course, I would like to emphasize that we will never compromise our national interests while striving for a peaceful solution and that we are fully committed to this issue.”.

Referring to the Cyprus issue, the Turkish Minister of Defense stated:

“In the Cyprus problem, there have been no results from the solution methods that have been put on the table until now. It is one of the most important priorities of our country to resolve the Cyprus issue as soon as possible in a way that guarantees the legitimate interests and security of the “Turkish Cypriot people”. The only and definitive solution on the island is the recognition of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the “Turkish Cypriot people”. We express once again that we will do our best for peace, security and prosperity in Cyprus, which is our national issue, within the framework of the Treaties of Guarantees and Alliance».