ROME - "The need for NATO just grew even more in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, and this is a reality we all witness," said Egemen Bagis, chairman of a committee on transatlantic relations of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
"There are unprecedented threats like terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and human, drugs and arms trafficking, issues against which we have to struggle jointly," he told a gathering in attendance of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at Rome`s Quirinal Palace, the official presidential residence.
"Democratic values that bring us together in NATO are the values we all have to protect," said Bagis, who is also the Turkish premier`s foreign policy advisor.
"We have to work together to protect our nations from the dangers we are facing and we have to develop our capacities and align them with our political goals," he said.