President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke in a press conference following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Complex. President Erdoğan said: “You know, our efforts continue unabated to ensure that Türkiye achieves its goals. We, again, have had a busy agenda since the previous cabinet meeting. We have carried on our journey of serving our nation with mass opening ceremonies and provincial visits at home, and with summits and trips abroad. On July 7 in our country, we discussed the issues on our agenda with President of Ukraine, Mr. Zelenskyy. At our meeting with Mr. Zelenskyy, we shared our recommendations for ending the war that has been going on for more than 500 days, and we emphasized once again that we are ready to do our part.” Noting that he, on the same day, attended the commencement ceremony of the 249 officers who successfully graduated from the Army, Navy and Air War Colleges of the National Defense University, President Erdoğan stated: “We witnessed that our university, which we had restructured following the July 15 coup attempt, properly fulfills its main duty.” Drawing attention to the domestic visits he has been paying to various cities across the country since the presidential elections, including Bayburt and Gümüşhane from which the President received the highest number of votes in the last elections, President Erdoğan thanked the provinces and their locals who lent support to him in the elections, and said: “Not making do with words of gratitude alone, we also held the opening ceremonies of investments worth nearly 2.689 billion liras in Bayburt and about 1.1 billion liras in Gümüşhane. I once again extend my most heartfelt appreciation to our brothers and sisters from Bayburt and Gümüşhane, who have always supported and prayed for us. We will work tirelessly to be worthy of the trust of all of our 81 provinces besides these two, whether they vote for us or not.” “WE HAVE EXPRESSED TÜRKİYE’S EXPECTATIONS IN A CLEAR MANNER” President Erdoğan, regarding his foreign trips, said: “Following the visits to Bayburt and Gümüşhane, we went to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to attend the NATO Summit. The Summit, held at a critical period, served as an international meeting during which we voiced our theses particularly with regard to combatting terrorism, and obtained diplomatically important gains. It was announced that a Special Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism would be appointed by the Secretary General for the first time at NATO. Agreement was reached on many issues that would contribute to the security of both our country and the Alliance. While stressing our principled support for NATO’s enlargement, we also expressed Türkiye’s expectations in a clear manner. We made our warnings concerning not only terrorism but also Islamophobia, which spreads like a plague in the West. The steps to be taken mutually about Sweden’s membership to the Alliance were laid out in a joint statement. We will do our part once the parliament opens. The Grand National Assembly of Türkiye has the final say on the membership protocols. We have no doubts whatsoever that our MPs will act conscientiously and do whatever our country’s interests necessitate.” “WE HAVE OVERCOME MANY PROBLEMS CONSIDERED INSURMOUNTABLE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS AND OTHER COUNTRIES” Drawing attention to his bilateral meetings with various leaders including those of the U.S., France and Greece on the sidelines of the NATO Vilnius Summit, President Erdoğan stated: “We saw once again during these talks that we have no insurmountable problems with any country, particularly with our neighbors. We believe that misunderstandings and disagreements will be resolved once a space is opened for dialogue and diplomacy. We have achieved this many times in the past 21 years. We have overcome many problems considered insurmountable with our neighbors and other countries. There is no obstacle that can prevent us from doing the same today as well. We are particularly hopeful about the results of the talks with our European friends. We want to see progress on such basic agenda items as the revival of our full membership process to the European Union, modernization of the Customs Union, and visa liberalization for our citizens. We hope to see soon the favorable outcomes of these moves, which will benefit both our country and the European Union.” “WE HAVE SIGNED THE LARGEST DEFENSE AND AVIATION EXPORT CONTRACT IN OUR HISTORY” Describing his Gulf tour covering Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as very successful and fruitful, President Erdoğan stated: “We further expanded our cooperation with Saudi Arabia through the five agreements we signed. We signed the largest defense and aviation export contract in our history. We decided to crown our excellent relations with Qatar with new partnerships. The United Arab Emirates is one of our most important trade and economic partners in the region, with our bilateral trade volume nearing 10 billion dollars. We marked the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations with the establishment of the High-Level Strategic Council. During our visit, we signed 13 agreements in various areas with a total value of 50.7 billion dollars.” “WE NEVER SHY AWAY FROM A RESOLUTION BASED ON THE FACTS ON THE ISLAND” As regards the visit he paid to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on the Peace and Freedom Day following the Gulf tour, President Erdoğan stated: “We commemorated the 49th anniversary of the Peace Operation with the inauguration of Ercan Airport’s new terminal building and runway. I once again wish Ercan Airport, which can now accommodate 10 million passengers, to be auspicious for the Turkish Cypriot people. Let me reiterate one point hereby: We have never shied away from a resolution based on the facts on the island, nor do we. We don’t hesitate to take on responsibilities to achieve a lasting and just peace on the Cyprus island. We have shown our sincerity on this issue in all processes up to now, including the Annan plan, and we will show it again if necessary. It is, however, evident that in order for this to happen, our counterparts need to accept the situation on the ground rather than insist on impositions. I once again remember our martyrs with grace on the 49th anniversary of the Peace Operation, and extend my gratitude to our ghazis. I would like to stress that our support to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is there to remain forever, and that our contributions will increasingly continue in every area including agriculture, energy, water, electricity, transport and health.” “WE WILL KEEP ALIVE THE JULY 15 IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS MEANING AND SPIRIT” Pointing to the commemorative events held in Istanbul on the seventh anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, President Erdoğan said: “We once again remembered and reminded our debt of gratitude to the heroes of the Century of Türkiye. Each passing year, we better understand the greatness of the victory our nation achieved on the night of July 15. That night, Türkiye not only thwarted a coup attempt against its democracy. Indeed, our country repelled an occupation attempt targeting its independence on that ominous night. Our nation once again shouted out, at the cost of losing 253 children of the homeland, to the whole world that Türkiye is impenetrable.” Underscoring that the memory of the July 15 will be kept alive via films, books, documentaries, poems and events in accordance with its meaning and spirit, President Erdoğan noted: “We will continue our fight against this terrorist organization as well as their extensions and supporters until the last FETO-member traitor is brought to justice. I hereby wish Allah’s mercy on our martyrs, and a health, peaceful and prolific life to our ghazis. I pray Allah that we may never experience a treason such as the July 15 again.” “WE CONVEY OUR BEST WISHES TO OUR GREEK NEIGHBORS” Noting that Türkiye is also affected by the negative impacts of the climate change, as most recently seen in the wildfires in the country’s west and south, President Erdoğan noted that Türkiye successfully continues its fight against forest fires. President Erdoğan added: “While quickly responding to fires in our country, we are also rushing to help out other countries in need. We sent two amphibious firefighting aircraft and a firefighting helicopter to our neighbor Greece, which is struggling with a huge fire. We convey our best wishes to our Greek neighbors, especially the people of Rhodes.”