Erdogan: Allies must take Turkey's concerns 'seriously'

By Ali Murat Alhas and Erdogan Cagatay Zontur

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish president on Thursday said Turkey took NATO allies' security concerns seriously and expected a similar policy toward Turkey from its alliance partners.

Speaking to reporters about his meetings during Wednesday's NATO leaders' summit in London, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the main topics were the refugee crisis, fight against terrorism, burden sharing, cyber and hybrid threats, strengthening solidarity among allies, Russia and China.

Underlining that Turkey was the only NATO member fighting against terror groups such as YPG/PKK in northern Syria, Daesh/ISIS and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), he said: "We regret to see that some allies are hand in hand with these terror groups while emphasizing the fight against terrorism."

"All allies must take our security concerns seriously, just as we take the alliance's security concerns seriously."

Erdogan added that NATO leaders only talked about the fight against terrorism, without taking action on the matter.

He went on to say that a recent summit between himself and the leaders of France, the U.K. and Germany had decided to hold annual four-way meetings starting February 2020.

On a recent maritime deal with Libya, Erdogan said the agreement would be implemented so long as Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) stood firm and strong.