Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu participated in the 2021 Budget Session of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its affiliated institutions at the Plan and Budget Commission of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 24 November 2020, and covered the latest developments of our foreign policy.
Minister Çavuşoğlu emphasized that it was not possible for us to accept that, being the country with the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey would be confined to its own shores, that no initiative could succeed without Turkey or the Turkish Cypriots, and that we were continuing to work with the EU on the proposal of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to convene a conference on the Eastern Mediterranean.
Minister Çavuşoğlu also noted that hope for peace had been revived with the start of the Intra-Afghan Negotiations in Afghanistan, torn by conflicts for more than 40 years, that we were making efforts to bring about the peace it deserved to Afghanistan and that we were giving the necessary support to the negotiations.
Regarding Syria, Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that it was foremost our desire and goal that Syria, which had been unstable for 10 years, became free from terrorism, and reached stability, peace and the political solution that would meet the expectations of its people.
Concerning Azerbaijan, Minister Çavuşoğlu underlined that Azerbaijan had managed to change the status quo that prevailed for 30 years with its success on the ground thanks to its strong leadership and heroic army, and that we would continue to support the just cause of brotherly Azerbaijan.
Minister Çavuşoğlu also made statements on the EU and expressed that some members were bringing their bilateral problems with Turkey into the EU, that they were wearing a so-called membership solidarity mask, that the EU should turn from this mistake, and that we were expecting the EU understand its errors and see the additional value Turkey would bring to the Union.
