Turkey made no concessions at NATO summit, FM Çavuşoğlu says


Turkey's foreign minister on Friday said Ankara did not make any concessions at the recent NATO leaders' summit, noting that Turkey's approval of NATO's Baltics defense plan was dependent on the alliance's recognition of the threat posed by the PKK terror group's Syrian branch, the People's Protection Units (YPG), in northern Syria.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's remarks came amid his visit to Rome, where he is currently attending the fifth edition of the Mediterranean Dialogues (MED) conference.

Referring to the country's recent maritime deal with Libya, Çavuşoğlu said Ankara was open to bilateral and multilateral agreements in the Eastern Mediterranean region, with the only exception being agreements with the Greek Cypriot administration, which it does not recognize.

He condemned Greece's decision to expel its Libyan envoy over a maritime pact last month between Tripoli and Ankara, saying Athens had revealed its true colors with the move.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union – has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.