Remarks at the joint press point with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
18 Oct. 2019
Good evening Secretary Pompeo, Dear Mike, welcome back to NATO Headquarters and thank you so much for coming here just hours after your trip to Turkey. And thank you for briefing the North Atlantic Council.
We discussed the situation in northeast Syria and the joint statement.
And I welcome that two NATO Allies, the United States and Turkey have agreed on a way forward.
We all know and understand that the situation in northeast Syria is fragile, difficult, but I believe that this statement can help to de-escalate the situation and therefore help to improve the situation on the ground.
NATO is an important forum for all NATO Allies to sit together and address common security concerns and the situation in northeast Syria is a concern for all NATO Allies, and it matters for all NATO Allies.
I visited Turkey on Friday and I stated that Turkey is on the frontline, forefront of a volatile region. No other Ally suffered more terrorist attacks, they host millions of refugees and Turkey has legitimate security concerns. At the same time, I stated my deep concern for the danger of escalating the situation, for more human suffering, and also for increased migrant and refugee flows.
We all understand that we have a common enemy, Da'esh. We have made enormous progress in the Global Coalition, all NATO Allies and NATO are part of the Coalition to defeat Da'esh. And we must not jeopardize the gains we have made in the fight against our common enemy, Da'esh.
We will address this issue when the NATO Defence Ministers meet later on next week. And this just shows how timely and important the briefing, the discussion we had this evening.
Therefore once again, thank you, Mike, for coming and meeting the North Atlantic Council.
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