The borders of the European Union and NATO are Türkiye's southern borders, Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakcı said Wednesday.

The project to support the institutional capacity of the National Coordination and Joint Risk Analysis Center (UKORAM), which will create a common database that provides information exchange with inter-institutional cooperation in the field of border management, was launched with a meeting held in the capital Ankara.

Kaymakcı, in his speech at the opening, stated that the project was implemented with the support received from EU pre-accession financial aid funds (IPA).

"This project is not just an investment in the southern and southeastern borders of Türkiye, it is an investment in the borders of Europe and NATO. The borders of the EU may be the Aegean for today, but the borders of the EU and NATO are the southern borders of Türkiye," he said.

Pointing to the moment of silence held at the beginning of the opening meeting to commemorate the martyrs, Kaymakcı said, "This actually shows the suffering Türkiye has faced in terms of border security."

Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, head of the delegation of the EU to Türkiye, also said that the project is one of the leading studies carried out in Türkiye in terms of border management.

Meyer-Landrut pointed out that border management equipment has been provided by the EU, from surveillance towers to thermal cameras, adding: "The EU is one of Türkiye's important cooperation partners. We are aware that migration poses a great risk. We are taking the necessary steps to combat irregular migration and smuggling."