President: Estonia, Turkey understand each other's security concerns

TALLINN - At a meeting with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday, Estonian President Alar karis said that Estonia and Turkey understand each other's security concerns.

"As NATO allies, Estonia and Turkey understand each other's security concerns and the security of Europe is our shared objective," Karis said at a meeting with Cavusoglu in Kadriorg.

"The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO strengthens the security of the Baltic Sea area and NATO's deterrence and defense posture on the eastern flank of the alliance, which is very important for us as well as for the resilience of NATO," he said. Cavusoglu spoke about Turkey's positions with regard to NATO's enlargement process.

The Estonian head of state and the Turkish foreign minister focused on Russia's war against Ukraine and security concerns in the Baltic Sea and Black Sea areas.

"Russia's aggression constitutes an existential threat to the security of all of Europe. It must end with the liberation of the territory of Ukraine," the president said. Karis and Cavusoglu also spoke at length about the international agreement enabling Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports and underscored the importance of this process being smooth.

"Estonia is planning to increase its military contribution to the international operation against terrorism in Iraq with some 100 military personnel," the president said during a discussion with the Turkish foreign minister about security problems related to terrorism.

Karis and Cavusoglu also acknowledged at the meeting that the decisions made at the NATO summit in Madrid last year to strengthen the defense posture of the eastern flank must be implemented by the time of the Vilnius summit.

The Turkish foreign minister gave an overview of how Turkey is coping with the world's largest influx of refugees, most of whom have arrived from Syria.

Cavusoglu extended an invitation to the Estonian head of state to visit Turkey. Estonia and Turkey will celebrate the 100th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2024.