Cavusoglu: 2020 showed Turkey’s determination to protect own interests

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday that Turkey's ongoing activities in the Eastern Mediterranean had demonstrated its determination to protect its legitimate interests in the region.

"In the Eastern Mediterranean, we raised our flag with the Oruc Reis, the Barbaros and the Yavuz, and we showed that nothing can happen in the area that does not involve us," Cavusoglu told a foreign policy evaluation meeting for 2020 in Ankara.

"We showed our enemies and our friends what we are capable of," he said.

In the same meeting, Cavusoglu backed the idea of a two-state solution on Cyprus, which has been divided since Turkey invaded the northern part of the Mediterranean island in 1974.

Cavusoglu also said Turkey, although not yet a member of the European Union, was still a part of Europe. Referring to the recent European Council conclusions, which fell...