Joint press point

Thank you so much Minister Çavuşoğlu. And I appreciate very much the hospitality you have shown me and my delegation. And we have just finished a delicious and very rich Turkish breakfast.

And I appreciate very much that we had this opportunity to go through a lot of different issues.

I am very glad to come to Turkey. The second ally I visit as the Secretary General of NATO.

Turkey is a key ally. Turkey is a strong ally.

So I am making this trip at the start of my tenure to consult with you, and to hear about your efforts, and your concerns at these challenging times.

To show solidarity of the Alliance as we face security challenges both to the south and to the east of our Alliance.

And to discuss the implementation of the decisions of the Wales Summit. To keep NATO strong. To help keep our neighbourhood stable by working with partners. And to keep the bond between Europe and North America rock solid. Minister, we have consulted on the situation in the region, which we monitor very closely.

ISIL poses a grave threat to the Iraqi people, to the Syrian people, to the wider region, and to NATO nations. So it is important that the whole international community stays united in this long-term effort.

I welcome the decisive actions taken by the United States, with many Allies and partners. And I welcome the recent vote in the Turkish Parliament to authorize an even more active role of Turkey in the crisis.

NATO is playing its role. Our Patriot deployment reinforces Turkey’s air defence.

And it helps protect Turkish territory and citizens against missile attacks.

NATO stands ready to support all Allies in defending their security.
For many decades, Turkey has been a steadfast Ally. Contributing to our collective defence. And to the stability of the region.

Your armed forces are making a significant contribution in Kosovo, and in Afghanistan.

We will continue to count on Turkey in Afghanistan. Next year, you will be one of the framework nations as part of our new mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces. And we are working together to ensure that we can launch the mission on January 1st, as planned.
At our Wales Summit, we took important decisions.

We are now turning those decisions into reality.

So I look forward to continue working with Turkey to keep NATO the bedrock of our security.