“It is done with mutual goodwill”

The Minister of Defense of Turkey, speaking about the Confidence Building Measures with Greece, emphasized that: “it is done with mutual goodwill”

To a question about the meeting on Confidence Building Measures between its delegations Greece and her Turkey yesterday, Monday, in Athens, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said: “We will know when the delegation returns. But it’s positive. It is done with mutual goodwill.”

His statement Yasar Guler it happened, as the correspondent of the Athens News Agency reports, during the reception held, on Tuesday night, at the Turkish National Assembly on the occasion of the celebration of the 104th anniversary of its establishment.

Ironic comment about the president of Germany

And if for Greece the statement was… good, for the president of Germany it was full of irony. Asked whether during the visit of German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Turkey Ankara’s intention to buy Eurofighter fighter jets for its air force will be discussed, Yasar Güler chose to give an ironic answer.

“The man is cutting doner, we will ask him after he has finished his work with the doner. The developments regarding these (s.s.: the armament programs) are continuing,” said the minister.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier began his visit to Turkey with a first stop in Istanbul, where he met with opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

The defense minister’s comment apparently referred to the fact that, to show his personal ties with the Turks, the German president took along on the trip a Turkish immigrant who owns a kebab restaurant in Berlin – what political analysts called “donor diplomacy”.

He also said about the Turkish workers who went as immigrants to Germany that “they built our country with us, they made our country strong, they are at the heart of our society”.

The German president’s meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled for today in Ankara.

Asked about the US purchase of F-16s, Yasar Guler said: “We are talking. Soon you will know where we stand with everything. We are processing it.”

The minister’s comments were made during the reception held last night at the Turkish parliament to celebrate the 104th anniversary of its establishment.