NATO's Stoltenberg congratulates Erdogan on election victory

6/25/2018 6:35:53 AM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BRUSSELS, June 25 (KUNA) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Monday said he would call Recep Tayyip Erdogan and congratulate him on his re-election as the President of Turkey.
"I also congratulate the Turkish people for the high turn out in the elections," he told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU Defence and Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg.
"Turkey is a key ally for NATO for many reasons not least for its strategic geographic location bordering Russia in the Black Sea but also Iraq and Syria to the south. Turkey has been very important in the fight against Daesh, against terrorism," he said.
Stoltenberg welcomed the strengthening of military cooperation between the EU and NATO and announced that he together with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, will sign a joint declaration at the margins of the NATO summit next month, which will outline ambitions to further strengthen the cooperation between the two organisations.
They will highlight that EU efforts are not competing with NATO, but complimentary to the collective defence that NATO provides, he said.
The NATO chief highlighted military mobility as an area of particular importance, saying, "We need to move forces quickly throughout Europe when needed." He said the Alliance has invested EUR three billion (USD 3.4 billion) in different kinds of infrastructure projects for military mobility.
Stoltenberg hoped that NATO leaders at the July summit would decide to start membership negotiations with Macedonia, following the recent agreement between Athens and Skopje to resolve the name dispute. (end) nk.hb

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