Since the Cold War, Turkey has been the integral part of NATO and continues to provide political and military support to the alliance, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated.

Speaking at the 62nd annual NATO Parliamentary Assembly session held in Istanbul, Erdogan said that NATO is a security platform which links countries connected with the ideas of democratic values, NTV reported.

According to him, from the very beginning Ankara promoted the search for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis, supported territorial integrity of Ukraine, monitored human rights violations in Crimea.

He noted that Turkey contributes to the resolution of the crisis in Afghanistan and has allocated one billion dollars for various projects since 2001.