President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday that Turkey and Kyrgyzstan need to collaborate against global terrorism to ensure their people's safety.
"We need to collaborate and fight global terrorism threats to ensure the safety of our nations," Erdoğan wrote in an article for the Erkin Too newspaper ahead of his visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Erdoğan will be traveling to the country for a two-day state visit between Sept. 1 and Sept. 3. He will meet his Kyrgyz counterpart Sooronbay Jeenbekov. The two leaders will discuss issues like increasing the trade volume between the two countries and the fight against Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
In his article, the president said there's no difference between FETÖ and global terrorist organizations, like Daesh, the PKK and its Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG).
FETÖ is not only a threat for Turkey, but also for the whole world, he said.
Turkey accuses FETÖ of orchestrating the July 15, 2016, coup attempt that killed some 250 civilians. The country has long demanded the extradition of FETÖ leader, Fetullah Gülen, who has been in a self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, U.S., since 1999.
During Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov's visit to Ankara in April, Erdoğan offered Kyrgyzstan Turkey's support to battle FETÖ. He said, "Turkey will continue its fight against FETÖ at home and abroad until the last FETÖ traitor will be brought before the law."
Erdoğan also said in the article that Turkey is increasing its investments abroad and opening its doors for businessmen who want to benefit from the country's advantageous investment environment.
"Our want to follow a win-win principle with every single country that we cooperate with," he said.
Erdoğan added that Turkey and Kyrgyzstan have numerous opportunities to benefit mutual ties.
"I am sure that doing trade in [our] domestic currencies, something we are already doing with a number of countries, can also lead to fruitful results for Kyrgyzstan and Turkey," he said.
