Erdogan hails Türkiye-Spain relations as model for NATO nations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called his country's partnership with Spain in NATO a model for some member states of the North Atlantic Alliance.

According to TASS, he made the remark in Madrid after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The broadcast was carried by the TRT Haber TV channel.

"Spain has been ensuring the security of both its ally Türkiye and NATO's collective security through Patriot air defence systems deployed in our country from 2015 to the present day. I would like to once again thank our Spanish friends for this on behalf of myself and my country. I hope that this contribution will be an example for some other NATO allies," Erdogan said.

According to him, along with trade and economic relations, issues of cooperation in the military-technical field between the two countries were actualized during the talks in Madrid. Local media reported on the eve of Erdogan's visit to Madrid that Ankara's purchase of a European Eurofighter fighter jet would be on the agenda of the talks. Spain is one of the countries in the consortium for its production.

"At the previous summit in Ankara in 2021, we upgraded our relations to a comprehensive partnership. With today's meeting and the agreements signed, we have taken important steps to expand our relationship into new areas. We are about to reach the 20 billion euros mark in bilateral trade. Our next goal is to increase trade turnover to 25 billion euros in the next five years," Erdogan said.

More than 10 bilateral documents were signed following Erdogan's visit to Spain. Spain is one of Türkiye's leading European trading partners. It ranks sixth among foreign countries in terms of investment in the Turkish economy. About 740 Spanish companies with a capital of about $11 billion operate in the country.