The Minister of National Defence, Mihnea Motoc, had a meeting with General Hulusi Akar, Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, on Tuesday, November 2. The Turkish official makes an official visit in Romania at the invitation of his counterpart, General Nicolae Ciuca. The two military officials will have a busy schedule.

During the meeting they analyzed the security situation in the extended Black Sea region and the perspectives of intensifying defence cooperation at bilateral level and in allied context. The Turkish side presented Ankara's view on the latest security developments in Syria and Iraq.

As to the consolidation of NATO's deterrence and defence posture on its entire Eastern flank, the importance was highlighted that the decisions made by the chiefs of state and government at NATO Summit in Warsaw be implemented in terms of the tailored forward presence on the Southern segment of the Eastern flank.

Minister Mihnea Motoc expressed his content with the good round of talks in the allied framework of the defence ministerial in Brussels of October this year and stressed the importance of the allied effort to implement the decisions on the tailored forward presence, especially Romania's initiatives in land, air and maritime field in the Black Sea region. He also made a special note of the important contribution of Turkey to adopting a balanced security and stability approach of the Eastern and Southern flanks of the Alliance.

Press Department