ANKARA
Türkiye’s aim is to stop bloodshed in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible despite hurdles, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.
“Our goal is to continue the momentum gained despite the difficulties in the field and to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible,” Erdogan said at the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the Kazakh capital Astana.
Erdogan added that Türkiye’s intensive efforts with the UN and the two parties to the conflict to curb the negative effects of the war have gained the appreciation of the entire world.
He said the Istanbul grain deal reached this July and the September prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine are both “tangible achievements” in this direction.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which paused after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February.
Later on Thursday, Erdogan is set to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss recent developments and the ongoing war.
Türkiye has been in close contact with both Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Erdogan has repeatedly stressed his wish to bring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together at a negotiating table in Türkiye to end the war.
“I say that a just peace can be achieved through diplomacy, that there will be no winners in war and no losers in a just peace,” Erdogan said.
Cutting off terrorists’ financial resources
Erdogan said terrorist groups continue to threaten the world, decrying how the leaders of the terrorist PKK, Fethullah Terrorist Group (FETO) – the group behind the defeated 2016 coup in Türkiye – and Daesh/ISIS continue to get support.
“The entities that help terrorist groups and take part in propaganda, financing, and recruiting activities should be blocked with no discrimination,” he added.
Turning to Afghanistan, the president said ensuring the country’s peace and stability is vital for preventing migration and stemming terrorism.
“We should not leave Afghanistan to its fate. We, as the international community, should continue to support it with humanitarian aid,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan said Türkiye believes the global security architecture should be designed with a more just, equitable, and representative understanding, adding that Ankara promotes multi-mode transport routes and supports reviving the Silk Road linking Asia and Europe.
“Today’s Astana summit will go down in history as the summit where the process of the conference’s transition into an international organization is proclaimed,” he stressed.
