Noting that humanity as a whole has been struggling for nearly two years with the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a threat of global scale that has claimed over 5 million lives and continues to have effects in every area including economy, trade and tourism, Erdoğan voiced his hope that the Summit would lead to the further strengthening of the cooperation and solidarity in the fight against COVID-19. “As Turkey, we have endeavored in this period to respond to assistance requests we have received from all around the world. Thus far, we have delivered aid to 12 international organizations and 160 countries, including members of this organization. We have also supported some members of this organization by granting exporting and purchasing license for medical equipment and by providing personnel and training aid.”

Adding that Turkey has delivered vaccines to 11 countries, Erdoğan stated: “We have applied for the emergency use approval of our homegrown vaccine TURKOVAC a short while ago. Once the process is due, we will hopefully put it at the disposal of the whole humanity along with our people.”

“We should intensify our efforts to boost our trade volume to $100 billion”

Underlining that the organization is being held with the theme of “Into the Future Together,” Erdoğan said: “It is of importance that we determine how we can make better use of the organization for the purpose of reinforcing our economic cooperation. The roadmap, which we are in need of in order to obtain our shared goals, is laid out in the document ECO Vision 2025. We see the Ashgabat Consensus for Action, which we are to adopt today, as a document that highlights our strong will in this direction. We should make better use of the strong potential offered by our geography, which harbors a nearly 500 million-strong population in an area of 8 million square kilometers. We should intensify our efforts to boost our trade volume to the level of 100 billion dollars. In this regard, we should first of all implement the ECOTA, one of the strategic objectives of the ECO Vision 2025.”

“The Afghan economy should be revitalized in order to prevent a refugee crisis”

Erdoğan stated: “It is important to immediately establish lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, which is faced with a major humanitarian and economic crisis. It is our shared wish and objective that an understanding of administration that responds to the needs of all segments in the country would be developed. We support efforts aimed at keeping basic state structures, including critical sectors such as healthcare and education, functioning. The Afghan economy should be revitalized in order to prevent a refugee crisis that might affect our entire region. The Turkish Red Crescent and our non-governmental organizations have increased their humanitarian relief activities against the looming dangers of hunger and famine in Afghanistan. It will contribute to our region’s economic prosperity and stability if the unilateral sanctions on Iran are terminated and if all the parties return to the joint comprehensive plan of action and fulfill their responsibilities.”

“Acknowledging the Turkish Cypriot people’s equal international status is the key to solution”

Azerbaijan’s liberation of its occupied lands has paved the way for lasting peace and stability in the region, Erdoğan stated. “The projects Azerbaijan has been implementing one after another in the region in order to achieve higher prosperity are praiseworthy. These steps will consolidate the normalization process in the region. As Turkey, we will continue to stand by Azerbaijan in this period. It is of great importance that we, as the organization, stand in full solidarity with Azerbaijan.”

As for the Cyprus issue, Erdoğan said: “Acknowledging the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereign equality and equal international status is the key to the solution in the Cyprus issue. I ask all the friendly and brotherly countries to evaluate the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ solution vision without prejudices. We encourage the development of relations in fields such as sports, culture, education, and tourism in order to alleviate the isolation faced by the Turkish Cypriots, who are observer members of our organization.”

Erdoğan continued his remarks as follows: “Regional and international cooperation is of vital importance in the fight against terror. We should continue our fight without making distinctions between terrorist organizations. Peace, stability and economic development will gain momentum as our region is cleared of such bloodthirsty terrorist organizations as the PKK/YPG, FETO, and DAESH. In this regard, it is highly important for us to act in solidarity against all forms of terrorism.” (ILKHA)