Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech at a summit in Istanbul attended by foreign ministers of 17 countries.

Erdogan told participants of Turkish-Arab Forum that Turks can’t do without Arabs. "We share common geography, history, culture and civilization," he said, adding that those, who claim that Turkey drifts towards the West, are making ill-intentioned propaganda.

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced about creation of a new alliance among Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria: High-Level Quadruple Council. These four countries will form a free trade zone and a visa-free zone. Davutoglu said he hopes that it would also cover other regional countries in time. Davutoglu said that the zone of free movement of goods and persons should not be considered an alternative to the European Union. He said Turkey is resolute on its bid for EU membership, Cumhuriyet reported.