President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went to Washington, the capital of the United States, to attend the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. President Erdoğan and his delegation were welcomed by the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Numan Kurtulmuş and the Washington Ambassador Sedat Önal at Andrews Military Air Base.
From here, Erdoğan went to the hotel where he would be staying. The President was welcomed with a show of affection from the citizens.
Those who welcomed Erdoğan held banners reading “Welcome” in Turkish and English. They also chanted slogans such as “Turkey is proud of you.”
The President and his wife Emine Erdoğan responded to the show of affection by waving.
Erdoğan later attended the NATO 75th Anniversary Commemoration Event held at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.
He took a group photo with the heads of state and government who attended the event.
At the end of the program, Erdoğan went back to the hotel where he would stay.
Here he met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Delegations from both countries also attended the meeting.
On the other hand, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in his speech at the program attended by the leaders of 32 NATO member countries and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said, “Our alliance was founded by people who lived through two devastating world wars. They knew very well the horror, pain and terrible loss of life of war. Therefore, they were determined not to let this happen again. Therefore, they founded NATO with the clear purpose of preserving peace and securing freedom.”
Stating that the Washington agreement, which is NATO’s founding document, consists of only 14 paragraphs and a few pages, Stoltenberg said, “Never before have so few words meant so much to so many people. Peace was preserved and freedom was guaranteed. This has made NATO the most successful alliance in history. When I came to NATO 10 years ago, although NATO was the most successful alliance in history, it was not the longest-lasting alliance in the world. That honor belonged to the Delian League, formed by ancient Greek city-states and lasting 74 years. Therefore, on the 75th anniversary of our alliance, we can say that NATO is not only the most successful and strongest alliance in the world, but also the longest-lasting alliance in history.”
“WE CANNOT ALLOW RUSSIA TO WIN”
“Ukraine has shown extraordinary courage and NATO allies have provided unprecedented support. But let’s be realistic, our support for Ukraine was not guaranteed. This is not a simple matter because our support comes with a cost and risks. The truth is, when you have an aggressive neighbor like Russia, there are no options without a cost. There are no options without risks in war, and remember, the biggest risk is that Russia wins in Ukraine. We cannot allow that to happen,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg said a Russian victory would make Russian President Vladimir Putin even more daring. “It would also embolden authoritarian leaders in Iran, North Korea and China. They all support Russia’s brutal war. They all want NATO to fail. The outcome of this war will shape global security for decades to come. The time to stand up for freedom and democracy is now, and the place is in Ukraine.”
