President Erdoğan goes to South Africa to attend BRICS Summit

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went to the South African city of Johannesburg to attend the BRICS Summit.

Before flying to South Africa, President Erdoğan held a press conference at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport.

“BRICS-MEMBER STATES ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 50% OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE LAST DECADE”

Drawing attention to Turkey’s ongoing cooperation and strong ties with BRICS-member states, President Erdoğan noted that Turkey has been invited to the BRICS Summit in its capacity as the Summit Chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Turkey’s participation in the summit will constitute Ankara’s first-ever high level contact with the BRICS, President Erdoğan pointed out, underlining that BRICS-member states account for more than 50% of the global economic growth of the last decade.

Stating that the summit will focus on Africa, President Erdoğan said that the theme of the session he is to attend will be ‘Global South-South Cooperation’ and that such global issues as the fight against income injustice and the increasingly escalating destructive commercial competition as well as other current matters will be addressed at the summit. “Turkey, which has a long history in international cooperation and humanitarian relief efforts, is among the leading countries in terms of development aids, the most important component of the south-south cooperation,” President Erdoğan added.

Recalling that Turkey ranked first in 2017 with 8.2 billion dollars’ worth of official development aids, President Erdoğan said: “I see the summit as an important opportunity to further advance relations between Turkey and the BRICS. The summit will also contribute to strengthening the ties between the BRICS and the OIC, of which Turkey is the current summit chair.

“WE DESIRE TO PROVIDE CONTRIBUTION TO AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT ATTEMPT”

Stating that he will proceed to Zambia for a one-day visit following the BRICS Summit, President Erdoğan emphasized that it will be the first presidential visit from Turkey to Zambia. Highlighting Turkey’s will to deepen its bilateral relations with the African continent in every field, President Erdoğan noted that his visit to Zambia will also be a return visit since President Edgar Lungu of Zambia had previously attended the ceremony held in Ankara to mark his presidential inauguration.

Saying that he will hold a tête-à-tête with President Lungu of Zambia and, if his schedule allows, will come together with businesspeople, President Erdoğan stressed that the meetings and talks expected to be held during the visit will serve to consolidate the contractual basis of the cooperation between Turkey and Zambia and that they expect to sign various agreements as well. “I foresee that the African continent will shape the future of our changing world. We desire to act together with Africa for a more just and more equal world and, in this sense, to provide contribution to Africa’s development attempt,” President Erdoğan underscored.

4,000 SQ KM AREA FULLY UNDER CONTROL IN SYRIA

The press conference ended with questions from reporters. In response to a question about his planned bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation on the margin of the BRICS Summit as well as the tripartite summit on Syria scheduled for July 30, President Erdoğan said: “Current developments in Syria regarding both Tell Rifaat and Manbij are not progressing in the desired direction as of now. The only areas where the events are going as desired are Afrin, Jarabulus and al-Bab.” Further stressing that an area of 4,000 square kilometers is completely under their control, President Erdoğan said: “We have also held some talks and reached some agreements regarding Manbij and Tell Rifaat. We will certainly discuss all these thoroughly during our one-on-one meeting. One of the challenging issues here is the Daraa issue, and there is also the Idlib issue.”

Responding to a question concerning the sanctions the U.S. will start to impose against Iran as of August, President Erdoğan stated that it will be contrary to their understanding of independence among countries to severe relations with their strategic partners in the world, and noted: “We buy such products from them that if we don’t, who will heat up our country during winter? Likewise, there are many win-win-based developments here, what are we going to do with them? We had already made all these clear to the U.S. during Mr. Obama’s tenure. We are still saying the same thing. Besides, conveying these to us through different avenues disappoints us. It also saddens us that political competitions both in the Senate and the House of Representatives are being made through Turkey. But, Mr. President has so far displayed a positive stance indeed on these issues. I believe this stance of his will continue in the upcoming period.”

Following the press conference, President Erdoğan was seen off at the airport by Vice President Fuat Oktay, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, Governor of Ankara Ercan Topaca and other officials.

Accompanying President Erdoğan on his visits to South Africa and Zambia are First Lady Emine Erdoğan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan, AK Party Diyarbakır MP Mehdi Eker and MHP Kayseri MP İsmail Özdemir.