Turkey will not join US, EU sanctions against Russia: Erdogan

Europe, Middle East, News March 26, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkish President Erdogan said that Turkey will not be joining the U.S. or the European Union sanctions against Russia, and will only support the United Nations sanctions.

Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily Newspaper reported on March 25 that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated “In terms of sanctions, we are studying certain UN guidelines, but let’s not forget that we cannot put aside our relations with Russia. You know, I explained this a long time ago, because today, if we take natural gas alone, about half of the natural gas we use comes from Russia. Besides that, we are building our Akkuyu nuclear power plant with Russia. We can’t ignore that.”

“When I told this to [French President Emmanuel] Macron, even he said that I am right. We have to protect this sensitivity, Firstly, I cannot leave my people to freeze in the winter, and secondly, I cannot completely reboot this industry of ours,” Erdogan added.

Erdogan stressed that his main priority is to “protect” Turkish citizens and said that “We have a country with a population of 85 million people. We have all kinds of obligations. Besides that, we have sent 56 trucks with humanitarian aid to Ukrainians. We supply them with food, clothes, medicines. Deliveries will increase.”

After attending the NATO Summit in Brussels on March 24, Turkish President Erdogan posted on his Twitter that “The decisions we took at the summit consist entirely of steps to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense structure. In this way, we have once again underlined that the alliance is not in a structure that will pose a threat to Russia or any other third country.”

“Turkey will continue to contribute to NATO’s deterrence and defense measures. We expect the same solidarity from our allies. It is in our common interest to remove the restrictions placed on our defense industry by our allies,” Erdogan added.

*^{Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) with leaders of U.S., UK, France, and other NATO partners. (Image Credit: Turkish President’s Office/Twitter)}*

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also emphasized that he will advise Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek “an honorable exit from Ukraine” and bring an end to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. after his return from an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels.

“I may have a talk with Putin either this weekend or early next week. As we will make an assessment of the NATO meetings with him, we should tell him, ‘After this, you should be the architect of the moves for peace.’ We should find a way to end this by suggesting him ‘Find an honorable exit,’” Erdogan told reporters.

According to the Turkish leader, Russia and Ukraine may reach some consensus on disarmament and Kyiv’s neutrality issues, however the status of Donbass and Crimea remain the biggest hurdle in peace talks.

Erdogan appreciated Ukrainian President Volodmyry Zelenskyy’s move on the Donbas issue and said that “he [Zelenskyy] made a smart move… he said a referendum should take place on this issue.”