Turkey’s relations with Greece were referred to by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking today from the podium of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

“Our goal is to maintain peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean, and we are working to maintain a positive atmosphere with our neighboring Greece,” the Turkish president said. “We are closely following the developments in the Balkans and continue our cooperation with the countries of the region,” he said, among other things.

Referring to Euro-Atlantic relations, after stressing that “NATO, which is the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security, is one of the building blocks of Turkish foreign policy and Turkey’s security,” he argued that “today, when the future of NATO and the European security architecture are in the news, it has once again become clear that no one can imagine European security without Turkey.”

According to Erdogan, “having the second largest army in NATO, Turkey is ready to take responsibility for European security in the future, especially with its defense industry, which has made leaps and bounds in recent years.”

On Turkey’s relations with the European Union, President Erdoğan reiterated that “it is invalid for us to make claims and criticisms that Turkey is moving away from the European Union. Full membership of the European Union remains the strategic goal of our country.”

For problems in European-Turkish relations, he blamed the European side, saying: “However, sometimes due to fears, due to prejudices, and sometimes due to factors that have captured the Union from within, the European Union does not demonstrate the necessary will to advance our accession process. To put it more correctly, some European countries today unfortunately lack the vision, courage, and strategic vision that gave life to the European Union three-quarters of a century ago.”

Finally, he called on the EU to take specific steps by accepting Turkey into its ranks to meet modern challenges, he suggested. Specifically, the Turkish president said, “We say that if the European Union wants to overcome today’s trials and be properly represented in the restructured world system, it should act accordingly, get rid of its heavyweights, and Turkey should take its place in the Union as a full member as soon as possible. We are ready and determined to move forward with our accession process. We expect the European Union to take concrete steps.”