President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went to the United States to attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The President held a press conference at Atatürk Airport before leaving for the U.S.

Noting that he will have bilateral talks with world leaders in addition to the UN Secretary-General, President Erdoğan said that the Turkey-Malaysia-Pakistan Trilateral Summit will also be held and that he will host with Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan a high-level side event on the theme of "Tackling Hate Speech" during his stay in the U.S.

President Erdoğan underscored that he will express Turkey's views on the main issues related to international peace and security that are on the UN agenda in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 24.

Saying that he will stress Turkey’s strong support for multilateralism in his address to the General Assembly, President Erdoğan added that Turkey will also nominate Ambassador Volkan Bozkır, a seasoned diplomat and politician, for UNGA 75, which covers the term of September 2020-September 2021.

President Erdoğan stated that he will also meet with Turkish kinsmen, representatives of the Muslim community, Jews living in or near New York, and Turkish and American businesspeople during his stay in the U.S.

Asked about the ongoing support of ammunition by the U.S. to the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), President Erdoğan said that Turkey has completed all of its preparations along its Syria border for an operation east of the Euphrates.

Drawing attention to Turkey’s long-established partnership with the U.S. at NATO, President Erdoğan said: "We are at the same point today. We don’t have any such desire as to have a confrontation with the U.S. However, we cannot afford to ignore the support the U.S. provides to the terrorist organizations in a place where it is not invited."

Pointing out that the YPG/PYD, which is included in the SDF, is just a branch of the PKK terrorist organization, President Erdoğan described the SDF as a front for the YPG/PYD and underlined Turkey’s resolve to clear the region east of the Euphrates of terrorist organizations that harass Turkey.

In answer to a question about U.S. Patriot defense systems and Turkey’s purchase of F-35s, President Erdoğan stated that buying Patriots from the U.S. is still on the agenda for Turkey. As regards F-35s, President Erdoğan highlighted that Turkey made a down payment of $1.35 billion for F-35s and that Turkey is a manufacturer, not a customer, of the project.

Reminded of the motto, 'the World is bigger than 5', voiced by Turkey in previous UNGA sessions, President Erdoğan said: "'The World is bigger than 5' is indispensable for us, a precondition, so-to-speak, for us."

Stating that it is not right for the 196 countries in the UN General Assembly to look only to the five countries in the UN Security Council for an answer, President Erdoğan underlined that the current system fails to come up with a solution to such issues as Syria, Palestine, Al-Quds, Arakan, Kashmir, etc.

President Erdoğan left Turkey for the U.S. following the press conference.

ILKHA