Speaking at a meeting with think tank representatives in the U.S., President Erdoğan said: “We are pleased with the development of our cooperation with the U.S.”     President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a roundtable with think tank representatives in the U.S. Speaking at the meeting, President Erdoğan commenced his address by expressing his pleasure over holding this meeting, and said: “We are marking a year which has a great historic and symbolic meaning for Türkiye. We are feeling the pride of reaching our Republic’s centenary. We are preparing for the second century of our Republic with ‘Türkiye Vision’.” “OUR FOREIGN POLICY AIMS TO CORRECT THE INJUSTICES OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER” Stating that one of the fundamental foundation of this vision is foreign policy, President Erdoğan went on to say: “Our foreign policy aims to resolve regional and global matters, establish a belt of peace, stability and prosperity in our near environ, and correct the injustices of the international order. There are many indications that we are entering the second century of our Republic in a strong and self-confident manner. Although we experienced one of the biggest natural disasters of history on February 6, we are rapidly healing the wounds of the earthquakes. By achieving a growth of 3.9 per cent in economy in the first half of 2023, we have increased our performance of growth to an uninterrupted 12 quarters. In exports, we have reached 165 billion dollars in the first 8 months of the year, and 253.5 billion dollars on a yearly basis. Despite overt and covert limitations, we have become a global actor in defense industry. Our defense exports have reached 2.4 billion dollars in the first half of 2023. We will further increase this momentum in the upcoming period.” “WE WILL CONTINUE TO PRIORITIZE DIALOGUE AND DIPLOMACY” “With the critical roles we have assumed in regional and global crises, we have consolidated our position in the area of mediation,” President Erdoğan noted, and said: “The efforts of mediation and facilitation for the termination of the Russia-Ukraine war with a just peace continue. The Black Sea Initiative, which we have launched in cooperation with the United Nations, has averted the worsening of the food crisis by ensuring the shipment of 33 tons of grains through the straits. With the exchange of war prisoners and the Istanbul process, we have managed to bring together the parties, even during an environment of war. We will continue to prioritize dialogue and diplomacy in order for a just and lasting peace to be established between Russia and Ukraine.” Also touching upon Türkiye’s relations with the European Union, President Erdoğan noted: “We see that a window of opportunity has been opened for the revival of the Türkiye-EU relations during this critical period we are going through. We continue to underline the importance of the revival of the process of Türkiye’s membership to the EU. Undoubtedly, merely our demand is not enough.” President Erdoğan added that the EU’s attitude will be determinant as well during this process. “WE WILL STRENGTHEN OUR COOPERATION ON TERRORISM” “We are pleased with the development of our cooperation with the U.S.,” President Erdoğan further stressed, and continued as follows: “We have resolved most of the deadlocks during the talks with Mr. Biden and we have decided to hold more talks in line with the positive agenda. We will strengthen our cooperation on terrorism, which is a source of threat for both countries,” the President said. Pointing out that every incident that takes place in the region shows how wrong it is to make a discrimination such as “good terrorist”-“bad terrorist”, President Erdoğan said: “As we always say, there can be no negotiation, no friendship, no partnership with terrorists. You can only combat terrorism. We will continue our fight against all the groups, from DAESH to PKK and FETO, which threaten our people’s lives, our democracy and the future of our country.” “WE ADVOCATE FOR A JUST INTERNATIONAL ORDER BASED ON RULES” Underscoring that Türkiye, which has been home to the highest number of refugees in the world, encourages the safe, dignified and voluntary return of Syrian refugees, President Erdoğan noted: “With the completion of the permanent houses under construction, 1 million people will add to the number of people who have returned, which is nearly 600 thousand for now. However, we see that the individual efforts of countries are not enough in these areas, and that international solidarity should be further promoted. We are concerned with the damage the global power competition does to the international system, and we advocate for a just international order based on rules. In this sense, we are of the opinion that the United Nations, the Security Council in particular, and other international organizations should be reformed in a manner that will meet today’s needs. As a matter of fact, the UN Secretary General touched recently upon this issue himself, and said that the multilateral institutions established following the Second World War do not reflect today’s world. He especially drew attention to the necessity that there should be more representation at the UNSC. This view reaffirms our conclusion that we have been expressing for a long time as, ‘the world is bigger than five.’” “RACISM, XENOPHOBIA AND HATE CRIMES ARE ALL BECOMING A BIG THREAT TO ALL OF US” Also pointing to the recent increase in Islamophobia and the attacks on religious sacred values, President Erdoğan stated: “Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes, which are committed on these bases but are tolerated in some countries under the pretext of freedom of expression, are all becoming a big threat to all of us. Action must be taken on this issue without further delay. Otherwise, as provocations increase, the possibility of saddening incidents between different groups of faith increases as well. Türkiye has shown its reaction in the clearest manner in the face of such acts, which dynamite people’s will to live in peace. We will show our reaction on the bases of law and democracy from now on as well.”