Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented after the NATO summit that the foundations for a stronger NATO were laid in Ankara, in which European allies take on more responsibilities, have stronger armies and share responsibility, BTA writes.
According to him, the presence of all leaders of the 32 countries in the Alliance shows respect for Turkey. He said that it was extremely valuable for him that Trump had once again emphasized the strong friendship between them.
US President Donald Trump described the NATO summit in Ankara as a very successful one and thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for this.
"I want to thank everyone for this great success and for this very successful NATO summit here in Turkey, and I want to thank President Erdogan very much. He is truly a great man and a great leader. A great friend of mine for a long time. He is a very strong man and he has built a great country with military power," Erdogan said.
Trump also described Rutte as a smart and great leader.
"You rarely see leaders with such qualities. He did a great job and it's hard to find another one like him," the US president said.
Regarding what was achieved today, he stressed that all leaders understand the US and its contribution to NATO.
Over 700 journalists attended Trump's press conference at the end of the NATO Summit in Ankara.
"So many journalists! Wow", exclaimed the American president.
Regarding the NATO summit, Trump commented that he had never seen such great unity in the hall and again highlighted the role of Mark Rutte as a unifier.
The American president said that there would be new investments that would lead to cooperation with allies in Europe in the field of the defense industry.
He also praised what President Ahmed al-Sharaa had achieved in Syria after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
“He has done a fantastic job with Syria“, said the American president.
Regarding Iran, he warned that there would be more attacks after announcing the end of the ceasefire.
He described the war with Iran as a success and highlighted the situation that Tehran faces – without ships and planes and with high inflation.
„Everything is gone, the leaders are gone“, Trump said.
He also criticized the behavior of Iranian representatives during the negotiations.
„I think they're a little crazy... They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time“, the American president commented.
Trump explained that the United States has a great relationship with Turkey in response to a question related to the possibility of Turkey being allowed to purchase F-35 aircraft.
He added that US relations have deteriorated with a number of countries under President Joe Biden and Turkey was also among them.
„I haven't made a decision completely, but I'm inclined to say: look, he's done everything, he's helped us in so many ways“, Trump said regarding to his Turkish counterpart Erdogan.
“This is the best plane, everyone wants it“, the American president also emphasized.
Turkey was excluded from the program for the fifth-generation F-35 aircraft after it bought Russian S-400 air defense systems in 2019.