We received with astonishment that in the German “Die Welt” newspaper, it was claimed that the invitation to host a Summit extended by H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkey, at the Warsaw Summit in 2016, was rejected by many NATO countries including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Denmark.

As announced by NATO Secretary General, it was agreed at the meeting held in Brussels to hold a full-fledged Summit in 2018. The exact place and date of it is expected to be determined in the coming weeks.

President Erdoğan declared that we are ready to host one of the early Summits after the Brussels Meeting both at that particular meeting and the previous NATO platforms, as well as during his conversations with NATO Secretary General.

Therefore, contrary to the allegation of “Die Welt”, it is certainly not the case that our offer to host a NATO Summit was rejected. Such groundless news articles aim to create a negative perception of our country.