Critical ministerial summit between Turkey and Belgium Turkey and Bel

Attending the 4th Meeting of Türkiye-Belgium Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Internal Affairs held yesterday in Brussels, the capital of Belgium; Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan, Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek and Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi attended.

The Belgian delegation included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation Maxime Prevot, Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden, Minister of Security and Internal Affairs Bernard Quintin and Minister of Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt.

The first one was held in Istanbul in October 2008, the second one was held in Brussels in January 2013, and the third one was held in Ankara on March 9, 2016; Common agenda items such as the fight against terrorism, the fight against cross-border and new generation organized crime organizations, legal assistance and irregular migration were discussed comprehensively.

In his speech at the meeting, Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi underlined international cooperation and sincere solidarity in the fight against terrorism.

Emphasizing that they expect the international community not to discriminate between terrorist organizations, Çiftçi said, "No country should allow its own territory to become a safe area for terrorist organizations operating against another country." he said.

Reminding that, as a result of years of determined struggle, the PKK decided to disarm and dissolve itself, and that the "Terror-Free Türkiye" process started with the law passed by the Parliament, Çiftçi noted that permanent success depends on international cooperation.

Stating that they expect concrete steps from Belgium, Çiftçi said, "We especially demand the closure of organizations supporting and affiliated with PKK and FETO and a positive response to our extradition requests." he said.

Çiftçi pointed out that FETO used Belgium as a shelter; He stated that if the organization's schools and NGOs were monitored, many financial crimes would be revealed and that members of the organization should be prevented from abusing the asylum system. Referring to the return of foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin in the fight against DAESH, Minister Çiftçi called for fair burden sharing and close cooperation in the fight against organized crime organizations and preventing irregular migration at its source.

Source: TRT Haber Açık RSS (Gündem) (Open Press / Translated Full Text)