'Turkey wants stronger cooperation with allies'

Turkey seeks stronger cooperation with allies, said the nation's president on Saturday.

"We want to be in stronger cooperation with our friends and allies," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's regular provincial congresses, held virtually as part of COVID-19 measures.

"We see ourselves nowhere else but in Europe. We contemplate to build our future together with Europe," he added.

He also noted that Ankara wants to use its long and close ally relations with Washington actively in resolving the regional and global issues.

"We believe that we do not have any problem with any country or institution that cannot be solved through politics, diplomacy, and dialogue," he stressed.

Erdoğan said Turkey has always kept these communication channels open, and will continue to do so.

PARTY CONGRESSES DELAYED

Noting that there is no obstacle for holding a political party congress, Erdoğan said: "Despite this, we are postponing our [AK Party] congresses as of next week to support the fight against the pandemic."

He said the new dates will be determined according to the course of the situation.

A new round of measures against the novel coronavirus took effect in Turkey on Friday evening, including a partial weekend curfew.

The country reported 5,103 more coronavirus patients on Friday, raising the tally to over 435,200.

A total of 3,019 more patients recovered, bringing the overall number to 367,592, while the death toll rose by 141 to reach 12,084.