Western sanctions against Russia to delay underlying problems: Turkey
Sanctions are useless, Presidential Spokesperson Kalın said, urging NATO and the West to listen to and understand Russia’s strategic concerns
WESTERN sanctions against Russia over the crisis in eastern Ukraine would only delay underlying problems, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said.
Sanctions against Russia are useless, Kalın told the German newspaper Welt in an interview published Sunday, adding it would be better to listen to and understand the strategic concerns of the other side.
Noting that Moscow feels threatened by NATO, Kalın said that three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to redraw borders and renew strategic alliances.
Kalın’s remarks came after the G-7 group of the world’s major economic powers urged Russia on Saturday to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
“Russia must de-escalate and fulfill its commitments,” the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States said in a joint statement after their meeting in Munich.
They stressed their preference for a diplomatic solution but also underlined that they are ready to impose severe sanctions on Russia if it violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Western countries have accused Russia of amassing nearly 150,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, prompting fears that it could be planning a military offensive against its former Soviet neighbor.
Moscow has repeatedly denied any plan to invade Ukraine and instead accused Western countries of undermining Russia’s security through NATO’s expansion toward its borders.
Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continue efforts to bring together the leaders of Russia and Ukraine for talks amid rising tension along their borders, Kalın also said Saturday.
“Our president’s offer to bring the leaders of Russia and Ukraine together is actually the most important and concrete proposal to overcome this crisis,” Kalın told reporters at a book fair in Istanbul.
Turkey has been closely following the developments and is in close contact with both Kyiv and Moscow. Ankara has also offered to mediate talks between them.
Putin has accepted Erdoğan’s invitation to visit Turkey amid the tensions and will make the trip once the pandemic and schedules allow, the Kremlin said.
Erdoğan also recently visited Kyiv and held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Turkish president reiterated that Turkey stands by its decision not to recognize the annexation of Crimea and declared Ankara’s support for Ukraine’s Crimean Platform initiative.
Turkey has repeatedly shown its willingness to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to resolve the conflict via diplomatic means, with Erdoğan saying a trilateral meeting could be held in Istanbul with the participation of the leaders of both countries.
Turkey shares the Black Sea with Ukraine and Russia. While forging cooperation on defense and energy, Turkey has opposed Moscow’s policies in Syria and Libya, as well as its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It has also sold sophisticated drones to Ukraine, creating concern in Russia.
Turkey has good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow but has said it would do what is necessary as a NATO member if Russia invades. On the other hand, Turkey has opposed the sanctions threatened by other NATO members in response to a military incursion by Russia.
TURKISH-GERMAN TIES
Noting that the relations between Turkey and Germany are currently not at the desired level, Kalın described the potential between the two countries as tremendous.
Underlining that the two countries should focus more on realigning their strategic interests and historical views, he added that Germany should try to understand the trauma that Turkey experienced in recent years.
One such trauma was the July 15, 2016, coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) in Turkey, Kalın said.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup, which killed 251 people and injured 2,734.
FETÖ was also behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Turkish-German relations in the areas of security, the economy and foreign policy should reach higher levels by focusing on common interests and a positive agenda, participants emphasized during a workshop held by the Turkish Presidency’s Security and Foreign Policy Committee led by Kalın last week as they discussed relations between Turkey and Germany.
Ankara and Berlin are major trading partners, as Germany has been a top Turkish import source and export destination for decades. The two countries also share deep cultural ties due to Germany’s 5 million-strong Turkish diaspora. In addition, Turkey is among the top tourism destinations for Germans, apart from hosting thousands of German expatriates.
Among other potential issues on the table are the migration issue, human rights and Turkey’s role in NATO. Turkey plays a key role in accepting refugees. The country has already taken in around 3.7 million refugees from Syria and hundreds of thousands of migrants from other countries, such as Afghanistan.