By News Center

After meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at the Foreign Ministry, the Top Diplomats of the two countries held a press conference.

“Despite all our warnings, we strongly condemn the attack on the Holy Quran in Sweden. Many of the challenges we face are common, as we know. That is why we attach importance to regular consultations with Jordan. With a decision we have taken, we are starting regular inter-ministerial consultations,'' Hakan Fidan said.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, they are closely following the developments in Palestine in recent days. The raids against innocent Palestinian brothers and the attacks of the settlers must stop as soon as possible. He noted that Turkiye convey its views on the good of the whole region to the Israeli authorities in a clear and transparent manner.

Stating that they exchanged important views with his Jordan counterpart on regional and international developments, and discussed regional developments in great detail during both bilateral and inter-delegation meetings, Fidan said, "Once again we strongly condemn the vile attack on our holy book the Qur’an in Stockholm on the first day of the Eid-al-Adha and turning a blind eye into this attack despite our warning.”

Reminding that the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met urgently, Fidan said that they discussed the joint steps to be taken with his counterpart, Safedi.

Fidan said that they have a full consensus with Jordan on the Palestinian cause and the status of the holy places, especially the Masjid Aqsa, and that they care about and support the role of the Hashemite Dynasty to protect the holy places in Jerusalem, and continued as follows:

"We have been closely following the developments in Palestine in recent days. The raids against our innocent Palestinian brothers and the attacks of the settlers must stop as soon as possible. We convey our views on the good of the whole region to the Israeli authorities in an open and transparent manner. As we emphasized in our Ministry statement yesterday, we most strongly condemn the Israeli attack. We also reiterated our call for the Israeli authorities to exercise common sense and refrain from such actions."

"Türkiye and Egypt are two strong brother countries in their regions"

Regarding Turkiye and Egypt's decision to appoint mutual ambassadors, Fidan said, "Turkiye and Egypt are two strong brotherly countries in their regions. These two important countries do not have the luxury of staying apart from each other due to their historical, geographical, cultural, strategic and belief ties."

Fidan underlined that as Turkiye, they strongly condemned the burning of the Qur'an in Sweden, in particular, and underlined that they reacted and will continue to show it.

In this context, Fidan pointed out that the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened in an extraordinary manner and took very serious decisions, and said that there were reactions to this heinous event from various circles of the world and that these reactions would continue in order to be more organized, qualified and fruitful.

Emphasizing that this would not be the first nor the last if qualified reactions are not produced, Fidan added: "It is much more thought-provoking that such actions are carried out under public protection and police cordon, especially in Sweden. In the days when Sweden's membership to NATO was discussed, the Swedish security system tried to prevent provocations. "The fact that it is in a structure that is not enough and that it brings trouble to NATO, not more power, obviously makes us think in terms of strategic and security."

Pointing out that Turkiye has already had a great reaction to the event in terms of its beliefs and values, Fidan said, "On the other hand, in terms of strategic and security evaluation, when it comes to Sweden's membership in NATO, it is a question whether it will bring a burden or a benefit. It is now open to more discussion."

Noting that they have similar approaches with Jordan on many regional and international issues, Fidan said that they attach importance to regular consultations with Jordan.

Fidan stated that they will initiate regular inter-ministerial political signs as a result of a decision they made with his Jordanian counterpart today, and that they discussed bilateral relations in their meeting.

Noting that despite the global and regional difficulties, the trade volume between the two countries exceeded one billion dollars last year and they aim to maintain this momentum by increasing, Fidan said that they believe that the Joint Economy Commission Meeting planned for the next period will be beneficial and that they anticipate working on visits between business delegations.

Underlining that Turkiye and Jordan will continue their efforts to establish peace in the region, Fidan said, "I would like to emphasize once again that the only viable solution to the Palestinian problem, in any case, is the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the basis of international parameters."

Fidan, who stated that they also evaluated the latest developments in the Syrian issue with his Jordanian counterpart, said that they consider it necessary to establish stability in the region as soon as possible for the return of Syrians and that they will continue their consultations on this issue.

Noting that despite the global and regional difficulties, the trade volume between the two countries exceeded one billion dollars last year and they aim to maintain this momentum by increasing, Fidan said that they believe that the Joint Economy Commission Meeting planned for the next period will be beneficial and that they anticipate working on visits between business delegations.

"From now on, our relations will continue to progress rapidly in political, economic and all other fields"

Reminding that a process was started a few years ago with the will of the presidents of Turkiye and Egypt, Fidan noted that this process was carried out with intelligence diplomacy in the first stage and that the heads of intelligence came together at regular intervals and brought the issues to a point.

Stating that the delegations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the two countries stepped in in the next process, Fidan said that Egyptian President Abdulfettah es-Sisi and President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who were in Doha for the last time on one occasion in November 2022, came together and that the foreign ministers later came together in line with the decisions taken. He came and told me that he was advancing the issues.

Emphasizing that they appointed a mutual ambassador as Egypt and Turkeiye with the joint decision taken today, Fidan said, "At this stage, we have left behind an important stage in the normalization efforts. From now on, our relations will continue to progress at a great pace in political, economic and all other fields. Mr. President. And this is the will of our state."

"There are always alternatives if Sweden does its homework"

Fidan stated that Sweden's decisions and legal practices regarding the fight against terrorism were taken last month and they will see their implementation in practice. Reminding that the fourth of the Standing Committee meetings held for this purpose were held in Turkiye, Fidan said that there would be another meeting before the Vilnius Summit on July 6, at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.

Fidan stated that as Turkiye, they do not approve of the use of time pressure as a method, and that they approach the issue as a principle and that they expect the Swedish side to fulfill its obligations in terms of combating terrorism, just like in Finland, within the framework of the agreement agreed in Madrid.

Regarding Sweden and the fight against terrorism, Fidan used the following statements:

"In an environment where terrorist organizations can easily organize all kinds of actions on the streets of Stockholm, where they can organize demonstrations and protests, raise money, where there is human traffic to conflict areas, where people in the guise of refugees entering their borders are not asked for what purpose they come, in short, they host them knowingly or unknowingly. Of course, it is very unlikely that we, professionally, are currently painting a very positive picture in terms of safety assessment."

Emphasizing that Turkiye acts with principle, Fidan said, "If Sweden continues its efforts and fulfills its homework, there are always other alternatives, just like in the case of Finland. However, while the fight against terrorism is already a problem area for Sweden, it has sacred values. The fact that there is an atmosphere that allows people to be insulted and that the perception of the security system in Sweden cannot produce and prevent a mechanism to prevent these provocations, frankly, makes us think even more.”

Pointing out that all of these were taken into account and President Erdo?an was following the issues closely, Fidan noted that the situation would be reviewed again as a result of the meeting to be held on 6 July.