President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is in the Republic of South Africa to attend the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] Summit, delivered a speech at the inauguration of the chancery of the Turkish Embassy in Pretoria.

"We attach special importance to boosting the diplomatic representation of Turkiye abroad in recent years," President Erdoğan said, adding: "We seek to increase the number, capacity and representation capability of our missions, in particular in African countries. We have covered a great distance in our relations with Africa since 2005 as a result of our joint efforts with African countries. The number of our embassies in Africa, when we took office, was 12. Now, it is 41."

"We will not allow FETO to soil South Africa"

President Erdoğan continued: "We will address these issues in detail during our meeting with President Ramaphosa of South Africa. I will convey him our expectations regarding FETO, the active organizer of the July 15 coup attempt and the murderer of 251 citizens of ours. South Africa is, unfortunately, one of the countries where FETO is the most active in the world and I will raise this issue with them. I had already given relevant documents to them and will give these to them as well in line with the recent developments. I will remind them that this terrorist organization, which caused trouble to us on July 15 might cause trouble to South Africa, too, in the future."

Underlining that that they will not allow FETO to soil South Africa and make it a base for itself or to abuse the generosity of the South African people, President Erdoğan said: "We cannot consent to this villainous terrorist organization exploiting South Africa’s legal system by means of its crypto elements, just as it did in our country during the December 17-25 period."

Pointing to the incidents that have recently taken place in South Africa as a proof of the importance of the fight against FETO not only for the security of Turkiye but also for the security of other countries, President Erdoğan stated that FETO is a treacherous and dirty organization that injects its venom into any country it operates in. Turkiye has broken the back of FETO and disclosed its dark face both at home and abroad, President Erdoğan further stressed, adding: "I am confident that we will conduct a similar successful operation in South Africa as well together with Mr. Ramaphosa. I would especially like to underline that our struggle will continue until the last FETO-member terrorist is brought to justice."

ILKHA