Turkey has decided to support the candidacy of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the post of NATO Secretary General, the Dutch news agency ANP reported on Monday, citing NATO diplomats.
Turkey was one of four member states of the Alliance that had not yet announced their support for Rutte as Jens Stoltenberg’s successor.
Members such as the USA, Great Britain, France and Germany have already announced that they support Rutte, Reuters mentions, according to Agerpres.
According to AFP, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on Friday with Mark Rutte, who arrived in Istanbul to obtain Turkey’s support for his candidacy.
On the occasion, Erdogan said he hoped the next NATO secretary general would prioritize Turkey’s terrorism concerns.
“I told him that, in accordance with the spirit of the Alliance, no terrorist organization, especially the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party – no) and its associates, should be tolerated,” the Turkish head of state told journalists in the presence of Rutte .
Erdogan also said that it is “imperative that the new secretary general makes intensive efforts to remove sanctions, restrictions and obstacles in the field of the defense industry among allies.”
President Klaus Iohannis announced that he has no intention of giving up his candidacy for the headship of NATO, saying that “very intense” discussions are taking place, which “are not made public.
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