Turkish foreign minister calls for supporting Ukraine's, Georgia's aspirations to join NATO

NATO should support not only the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia but also the two countries' desire to join the alliance, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, he said this at the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday, October 5.

"Of course, we need to continue to support the two Black Sea countries - Ukraine and Georgia. We should support not only their territorial integrity. We should also support them, strengthen their capabilities, including in terms of better relations with NATO, including their aspirations. We are well aware of these aspirations. Poland and Turkey are, unfortunately, only the few NATO allies that raise this issue at every ministerial meeting and every summit," Cavusoglu said.

Separately, in his speech, the Turkish foreign minister recalled that Crimea is Ukrainian. "We do not and will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea. And I reiterated this commitment, in particular, at the Crimea Platform," Cavusoglu said.

He stressed that the Black Sea region is one of the key regions for Euro-Atlantic security, and therefore the military expansion of forces in the Black Sea region needs constant attention from NATO.

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