Accusing Turkey Of Daesh Links İs Disrespectful: Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has termed reports alleging that Turkey cooperates with terrorist organizations like Daesh as hugely disrespectful to the entire country and Turkish people.



Addressing a joint press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana Monday, Erdogan said: "Terrorism is not a local issue, it is an international issue; It is now a question of international solidarity."



About measures taken by Turkey to thwart the movement of suspects, he said that there was an entry ban on more than 12,500 suspects, while another 1,250 had been deported.



 However, the Turkish president cautioned against hindering the movement of tourists. "Of course, we should be given lists and names of these people, so we can intervene; otherwise we would have sent back every tourist, which is wrong in terms of human rights," he said.



He also said that "accusing Turkey of cooperating with Daesh is a huge disrespect and injustice to the country and its people."



"We recognize Daesh as a terrorist organization and we do not even use the name ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant)," the president said, explaining that terrorist group's name was itself an insult to Islam.



About the Yemen crisis, the Turkish president said that Turkey was closely monitoring the events unfolding in that volatile region.



Slovenia backs Turkey's EU accession



Erdogan recalled his previous visit to Slovenia as Turkey's premier in May 2012, when President Pahor too was a prime minister at that time and expressed pleasure at how the bilateral ties, including in the political, military and economic fields had become stronger with time.



The Turkish president said that there were no political issues between Turkey and Slovenia, adding that Slovenia fully backed Turkey's EU accession process.



"Slovenia is sincerely and strongly supporting Turkey's integration with Europe," Bahor said.



To gain membership into the bloc, Turkey must successfully conclude negotiations with the EU in 35 policy chapters, which include reforms and adoption of European standards. A total of 14 chapters have been opened so far, while 17 remain blocked and another four have yet to be discussed.



Bilateral trade volume



Erdogan called for an improvement in trade volume between Turkey and Slovenia, which currently stood at over $1 billion.



He called for exploring natural gas and renewable energy sectors as well as construction, textile and automotive sectors to improve and strengthen bilateral trade.



The president also said that the frequency of Turkish Airlines flights to Slovenia would increase to 10 per week from the current level of one flight per day or seven flights per week.



More than 40,000 Slovenian tourists come to Turkey every year and the numbers of Turkish tourists entering Slovenia have also increased, he added.



Also, Erdogan invited Pahor to commemorate the Canakkale battle. "The first invitation is for April 23-24, when we will celebrate the anniversary of our victory in the Canakkale battle," he said, adding that representatives from more than 30 countries would participate in the ceremonies.



"I want us all together to give a message of peace to the world," he said.



Before the press conference, both leaders signed two agreements, including one on energy field cooperation and another on good-will agreement between Turkey's Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency, and Slovenia's Public Agency for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Development, Investment and Tourism. 



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