Ambassador Basat Öztürk, Türkiye's permanent representative to NATO, highlighted that the alliance's summit in Ankara should be a clear demonstration of unity and solidarity among allies.
"Türkiye's as well as all allies' collective objective and expectation is to clearly reaffirm unity, solidarity and cohesion among allies. This is the number one expectation," Öztürk told Anadolu Agency (AA) at NATO headquarters in Brussels ahead of the launch of the summit on Tuesday.
He said extensive preparations have been made for the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be hosted by Türkiye in Ankara on July 7-8, and that the logistical and infrastructure work would set a new benchmark for future NATO summits. Öztürk stressed the importance of allied leaders arriving in Ankara with a shared determination to succeed together. He said that unity, solidarity and cohesion should be reflected not only in political statements but also in the successful outcome of the meeting, adding that such political will already exists among allies.
"Undoubtedly, the fact that U.S. President (Donald) Trump will attend the summit and has stated that he is doing so out of respect for our President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) is very important. This situation shows everyone the weight of our president and that our country will host the summit very effectively," he said.
