Türkiye and Latvia will bolster their defense industry cooperation with tangible projects, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Tuesday at a news conference with this Latvian counterpart Baiba Braze in Ankara.
Regarding the fight against terrorism, Fidan said: "Notably in the fight against FETÖ (Gülenist Terror Group) I would like to express once again our expectation for stronger cooperation and taking concrete steps."
Fidan went on to highlight Türkiye's resolve to "decisively" continue its fight against the group involved in the 2016 defeated coup in the country, which killed hundreds and injured thousands.
At its height, FETÖ operated thousands of schools, businesses and charities on every continent, disguised as a so-called religious movement that sought to sow and cultivate influence through infiltrators in state institutions. Since the July 2016 coup attempt, Türkiye has been rooting out FETÖ cells in its institutions while working to extradite FETÖ members, including senior ringleaders, from overseas.
Expressing Ankara's appreciation for Riga's support of Türkiye's EU accession process, Fidan said membership in the 27-member bloc is a "strategic goal" for Türkiye.
Stressing that Türkiye has a political will to develop relations with the EU in a "constructive" and "result-oriented" manner, he underlined the expectation from the union to exhibit a clear attitude.
Ankara’s EU membership negotiations started in 2005 but entered a stalemate after 2007 due to the Cyprus issue and political opposition to Türkiye’s membership by several member states.
Fidan also called for an end to Israel's war in Gaza and Lebanon.
"Israel, by killing civilians, cannot reach peace and security," Fidan said, adding that the international community must support Palestinian efforts to establish their own state in their own land, to establish peace in Israel and the entire Middle East.
Israel launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing more than 42,700 people, mostly women and children, and injuring over 100,300 others.
The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country, which have killed more than 2,483 people and injured over 11,600 others since October last year.
Israel expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.
Türkiye, fiercely critical of Israel’s brutal offensive in Gaza, which it and others say amounts to genocide, has been on alert about a possible regional spillover of the conflict with Israel’s persistent attacks on Lebanon and Iran’s retaliation.
