The Republic of Turkey supports the prospect of Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and welcomes Ukraine’s recognition as an enhanced partner.
“The Republic of Turkey will continue to assist Ukraine in achieving the criteria for membership in the alliance, as well as the compatibility of the Armed Forces and NATO, including by conducting appropriate joint military exercises,” presidents of Ukraine and Turkey, Volodymyr Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a joint statement following their meeting in Istanbul on Oct. 16.
Zelensky, Erdogan noted the importance of joining efforts to strengthen peace, security and stability in the Black Sea region within the regional mechanisms and NATO.
“We will continue to attach particular importance to the development of comprehensive cooperation between the navies of our states. We emphasize the importance of strengthening regional cooperation of interested countries for sustainable economic development and environmental protection in the Black Sea,” the presidents said in the joint statement.
Zelensky and Erdogan at the meeting decided to create a new format of the Ukrainian and Turkish dialogue on political security issues, namely, annual meetings of foreign ministers and defense ministers according to the “two plus two” formula (quadriga).
They also expressed satisfaction with the dynamics of the development of bilateral cooperation, in particular, in the defense sphere and in the field of military and technical cooperation. “We instruct the defense ministries and other involved departments of the two countries to ensure the successful implementation of all projects of mutual interest,” they said in the joint statement.
