Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to redraw borders and renew strategic alliances, Turkish Presidential spokesman İbrahım Kalin told German newspaper Die Welt on Sunday.
Proposed sanctions targeting Russia over its crisis with Ukraine are “useless,” Kalın told Die Welt, adding that it was necessary to hear Moscow out and listen to its strategic concerns.
Russia has built up tens of thousands of troops along the Ukrainian border, in what Western nations and NATO are calling an act of aggression that could spiral into the largest military conflict on European soil in decades.
States are faced with new problems in the 21st century, Kalın said, responding to a question on Turkey’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, adding that countries must redetermine principles in a manner that align with the current period.
Turkey maintains good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. But Ankara’s attempts to boost cooperation with Kyiv over the last year through its supply of military drones, prompted Moscow to accuse Ankara of attempts to fuel “militaristic sentiment” in Ukraine.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said earlier this month said Turkey was doing its best to help de-escalate ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the country offered to act as an intermediary in the conflict.
“NATO is the most successful and important military alliance,’’ Kalın said, adding that Turkey was a key member of the alliance.
Kalın also told Die Welt that the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) received orders from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Ankara says the HDP – the third largest party in Turkish parliament – is the political front for the PKK, a claim the party denies. Ankara is seeking to dissolve the HDP through a closure case put before the Constitutional Court and ban over 680 party members from engaging in politics for five years.
Source: Ahval
