Post-G20 Leaders' Summit Press Conference

Dear members of the press, Dear friends, I greet you with my warmest feelings, with respect and love. We have completed the G20 Leaders' Summit under the auspices of the South African Republic. I wish that the 20th summit, which is organized with the main theme of will be a means of good for all humanity. I would like to express my gratitude to the President and my dear friends, Mr. Ramaphosa, for their warm welcome extended to me, myself and my delegation. We are particularly pleased that the G20 summit has been convened in Africa for the first time. Let me begin with an observation. I visited the Republic of South Africa, rightly known as the Rainbow Nation for its cultural, religious, ethnic and social fabric, for the first time exactly 20 years ago, in 2005, in my capacity as Prime Minister. I later had the opportunity to visit this beautiful country at the BRICS summit. At each of these visits, we left with truly fond memories. The hospitality, warmth and sincerity of our South African friends always impressed me and left an unforgettable mark on me. We, in turn, have hosted our South African friends in Turkey, in our country, on board. Thanks to our joint efforts, our relations have reached levels that could not have been imagined 20 years ago. And most recently, Deputy President Mashatile was in our country. We attach great importance to the growing dialogue and engagement between our governments as well as between the ANC and our AK Party. Turkey is determined to strengthen this positive period. It is an undeniable fact that the victory of the Republic of South Africa under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, the apartheid regime, has become one of the strongest symbols of the global quest for justice and equality. And in this context, I greatly value South Africa's principled and unwavering support for the Palestinian cause over the years. In particular, during the genocide in Gaza, where 70,000 Palestinians, most of them children, women and civilians, were massacred, South Africa displayed exemplary resolve. As crimes against humanity were committed in Gaza before our South African friends, like the Turkish people, did not turn their backs on this brutality. I command the South African state, its people and its leaders to file the genocide case against Israel in the National Court of Justice and I salute them on behalf of my nation, my people. Turkey, too, has fearlessly stood by the Palestinian cause, defending the rights of the oppressed people of Gaza at every platform. With over 100 humanitarian assistance, we have supported our Palestinian brothers and sisters. A ceasefire has now been achieved also with our contributions among the people. We spare no effort to prevent a return to conflict again. I emphasized that it is a global responsibility to reduce the level of violence in Gaza. I asked for humanitarian aid and support for reconstruction. While ensuring the continuation of the ceasefire, it is of paramount importance to implement the two-state solution for a lasting settlement. A free state of Palestine, based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, is essential to achieve true global peace. We will continue to uphold our principal stance for the peace, stability and security of both the oppressed Palestinian people. We will continue to uphold our principal stance for the peace, stability and security of both the oppressed Palestinian people. Distinguished members of the press, as has been the case, this year we actively participated in June 20 activities and continued contributing to the international agenda. In my interventions during the summit, I conveyed our views on climate change, the green transition, sustainable development and the impact of technological progress on development policies. We particularly highlighted so that they are not left behind in achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goal. The summit also allowed us to assess the progress made by the G20 so far. I also held bilateral meetings with the other parties of the EU and exchanged our views on issues of global concern. In this context, over the past two days, I met with many leaders, including those of Australia, Canada, Angola, Ethiopia, France, Brazil, Malaysia, Italy, Singapore, as well as the French Union, the United Nations Secretary General and the President of the European Union and also I met with representatives of other international organizations. Dear members of the press, the G20 continues to be a platform of broad representation, bringing together many diverse nations. I have been personally participating in G20 summits since 2008. It is crucial that the G20 provides leadership to the international community in addressing current and future global challenges. At this year's summit, we reiterated that the principle of leaving no one behind must serve as the compass of the international community. We underscored the need to build a more inclusive and resilient global economy in which no one is left behind. We stressed the importance of international cooperation and multilateralism. This year also marks the 12th anniversary of MIKTA Group, which we established together with Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Australia. On the margins of the summit, the MIKTA leaders and we issued a joint press statement. In that statement, we reaffirmed our commitment to multilateralism. We will further strengthen our cooperation with our MIKTA partners, all of whom are also G20 members, in the forthcoming period. I hope that the consultations we held throughout the G20 Johannesburg summit will pave the way for positive outcomes for global economic and political stability. Taking this opportunity, I also wish to the United States of America which will assume the G20 presidency as of December 1, 2025. Once again, I greet you all with respect and thank you very much. What can you say about Russia? Can there be better relations between Turkey and Russia due to their relations with Russia? And finally, what can you say about Putin? Mr. Zelensky was my guest this week. I will have a telephone conversation with Mr. Putin tomorrow. By the way, during the bilateral talks here, we especially discussed the Russian-Ukrainian war. We evaluated what we can do and how we can achieve peace. We insisted on these issues. My wish is that Turkey will do its best We have announced all kinds of mobilization for peace. I hope we will succeed. During the bilateral talks, we talked about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. We have made certain reviews. We tried to see what we can do together and what kind of peace we can establish. We insisted firmly on these topics. I really hope that Turkey will be instrumental in the way we go to peace. We have mobilized all efforts for that purpose. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for the briefing. As a leader of a Muslim country, how do you navigate having to be part of deliberations where some of your counterparts have a very pro-Zionist and even Hindutva ideology? The war in Gaza is clearly a genocide. I personally express this genocide to the two leaders I have met, Netanyahu, and to the president of the Republic of Turkey. In Gaza, where 60,000 people have been killed, in Palestine, all this genocide is happening and the perpetrator of this genocide is Netanyahu. Of course, it is clear and evident that genocide is taking place in Gaza, in the Middle East. No one can deny this. In the bilateral meetings I have had with leaders, I have always been clear that this is a genocide by Zionists and Netanyahu. Of course, this needs to be clearly said. As president of Turkey, I am always insisting on this topic. 60,000 people have been massacred in Gaza, in Palestine, and no one can turn a blind eye on this genocide. The responsible person is Netanyahu and Israel. Thank you. As for this topic, we will take into account the position of our security forces here, especially as the Ministry of Defense, and after this assessment, we will make our final decision. We will be working closely with our Ministry of Defense to see how our security forces can be deployed. After this review and assessment, we will be giving our final decision. Just the other day, the president of Finland expressed concern that multi-polarity creates a world that is more vulnerable to conflict. Do you agree with that, that a multi-polar world can somehow be more dangerous? Thank you. Unfortunately, the multi-polar world is already in conflict. It has been four years and hundreds of thousands of people have died There are many people who have lost their lives in this conflict. We, as Turkey, are deeply saddened We are considering how we can end this and how we can achieve peace as soon as possible. Well, we are currently living in this multi-polar world. It's been four years already that this conflict is ongoing. Hundreds of casualties are there. In Russia, 100,000 casualties and in Ukraine. Of course, Turkey is very much saddened to see this situation. We are resolved to end this conflict and we want to bring peace and we are engaging all sorts of efforts. You speak with a lot of leaders. What is your understanding, what is your feeling, how close we are to the peace deal between Russia and Ukraine? Did you participate in deliberation by America of the plan? In which country, in what town could be such negotiations, direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine? Thank you very much. First of all, with Zelenskiy in Ankara. He told me that we will have a phone call with Mr. Putin tomorrow. And after these meetings, we had an effort to open a corridor of peace. This corridor of peace was actually to open the way to peace. We opened a corridor of peace and we wanted to reach it. Unfortunately, we managed to reach a certain point. But this did not continue. Now, in the meetings we will have tomorrow, I will ask Mr. Putin to start this process again. I think it would be very good if we could start this process. Of course, so many people have died. How can we stop these deaths? I will discuss these with him. And after this discussion, we will have a chance to meet with the Europeans, with Mr. Trump and with other friends. I think we will have this chance. And with this opportunity, I would like to thank you again. Thank you very much. Thank you for bringing this up. South Africa is the largest trading partner of Turkey in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, there have been calls for trade and investment relations between Turkey and South Africa to be further strengthened. Do you think this summit will be an opportunity for this? Without a doubt, our bilateral relations are already at a good level. In the future, I believe that we will take many steps together in these areas, especially from the defense industry to energy. We will take joint steps to work together and strengthen this relationship. As of now, the relations between our friends and the heads of state are continuing. How can we ensure peace? Instead of a short-term ceasefire, how can we ensure a permanent ceasefire? How can we ensure this? We are working on this. Last question. Turkey has already announced a ceasefire in Gaza, Libya, and the world leaders are looking at us. However, the situation in Sudan is not going well. How will Turkey solve this problem? This is the most important aspect Our brothers in Sudan are also asking Turkey to solve these problems. We are trying to find peace there. We are trying to find peace in Somalia. We are trying to find peace there. Since you mentioned Sudan, wherever there is a conflict, we will be there. This is the most important aspect of politics. Our brothers in Sudan want Turkey to be involved in the peace negotiations. Wherever there is a need to show more effort to establish peace, we will be there. We will continue to work for it.