President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech at the expanded meeting of AK Party’s provincial heads in Ankara.

Talking about the world agenda, President Erdoğan also evaluated mass destruction weapons, especially the drama of Arakanese Muslims and the nuclear weapons tests of North Korea.

Speaking about the attacks on Arakanese Muslims by the Myanmar government towards the end of August, Erdoğan recalled that during the First World War and Independence War, Arakan Muslims prayed for Turkiye's victory, gave announcements to journalists and sent money they collected in aid campaigns to Turkiye.

“Arakan is not an unknown place for us, not a geography where we have no interest”

President Erdoğan said, “There are thousands of our soldiers, who were taken prisoners by Britisher and sent to camps in that region and buried in the martyrs' cemeteries. Our soldiers in the prison camps have established very good relations with the people of the region. Some even preferred to stay there after the war was over. As you can see, Arakan is not an unknown place for us, not a geography where we have no interest.”

Arakan Muslims to receive 10 thousand tons of food, medicine, and clothing aids

Referring to the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) as the only aid agency that was able to conduct relief operations for the Rohingya Muslims during the previous month of Ramadan, President Erdoğan noted that their talks with the relevant authorities following the latest developments enabled the TİKA to carry on its relief operations in the region. The President added that the TİKA delivered 1,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the camps in the region after his telephone conversation with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Stating that Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu would proceed this night from Baku to Bangladesh, and that his wife Emine Erdoğan, his son Bilal Erdoğan, Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya and AK Party Deputy Chair Ravza Kavakçı would arrive in Bangladesh this night, President Erdoğan highlighted that 10,000 tons of additional aid consisting of foodstuff, clothing, and medicine will be delivered in the second phase following the previous first phase of humanitarian aid.

“We will continue to encourage the Myanmar administration to resolve this issue on a humanitarian basis. We will keep up our efforts on one side and mobilize the international mechanisms on the other side in order to prevent the Rohingya Muslims from being a victim to the international calculations,” the President underlined.

President Erdoğan said, "So far I have phoned close to 30 leaders, I have had discussions with them, I have told all of these topics. I especially made talks with the leaders of the Islamic world and I called them at the point of their sensitivities in these matters. I hope that they will deal with it and reveal their sensitivities in this regard. This oppressed people certainly do not deserve to be crushed between two powers that are accounted for in the region. We want only those who fight for natural gas, oil deposits and coastal harbors under the earth, do not do it at the expense of the soul, blood, and future of innocent people. The world is already witnessing as much pain, persecution, and massacre as it is in Syria and Iraq.”

“Who are they that strongly recommend us not to produce mass destruction weapons? They are the ones who possess the most powerful mass destruction weapons”

Adding that Turkiye is following the tension stemming from North Korea’s missile tests closely and with concern, President Erdoğan expressed his wish for the ongoing crisis, which directly concerns Turkiye’s such friends as Japan and South Korea, to be settled as soon as possible.

President Erdoğan emphasized that there would be no winner in a fight like this which is waged over mass destruction weapons, and said: “Who are they that strongly recommend us not to produce mass destruction weapons? They are the ones who possess the most powerful mass destruction weapons. Yet, what are they telling us? ‘Don’t you dare!’ Alright; but, how about the ones you have? One of you possesses 15-16,000 warheads, one of you 12,500 warheads, and another one of you 6,500 warheads. While that is the case, how come you can say ‘Don’t you dare!’ to others. It is you that pave the way for all this. Therefore, if a fight is to be initiated against nuclear weapons across the world, then it has to start with you. What is more, in a war like this, not only the belligerent parties, but the entire mankind will get harm. We call on North Korea to abandon acts which escalate tension.” (Hamza Adiyaman - ILKHA)