LONDON, January 16. /TASS/. Ankara must retain the ability to have a full-fledged dialogue with Russia and play the role of mediator between Moscow and Kiev, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in an interview with Britain’s The Financial Times on Monday.
"Someone has to speak with Russia," he said. "Without this dialogue there would be deadlock. We would expect the West to thank our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan]."
He recalled that President Erdogan had acted as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine more than once during the past year, speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin after calls with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to convey Kiev’s messages to Moscow. He also stressed that the Turkey-brokered grain deal could be an example for a possible peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine. He also reiterated the call for "a humanitarian ceasefire."
Apart from that, the Turkish defense minister responded to the criticism that Ankara was stalling Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO. He stressed that his country is "a tested nation, a tried army that would never act contrary to our alliances." "There is no cause for concern," he added.
"We fully support NATO’s open-door policy. Just as we respect the candidates’ desire to become members, they must respect our security concerns," Akar said. "We want this problem resolved, but there is nothing we can do. We are waiting for Sweden and Finland to complete their work and solve this."
The two Nordic countries applied for NATO membership in May 2022 but Ankara blocked their entry to the alliance demanding they declare Kurdish organizations as terrorist and extradite individuals accused of terrorism or participating in the 2016 attempted state coup in Turkey.
Disputes with the US
Touching on Turkey’s relations with the United States, Akar said he is "optimistic" about the chances that Washington would finally agree to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The issue was stalled after Turkey purchased four Russian S-400 missile defense system battalions for a sum of 2.5 billion US dollars.
"We want to strengthen our military and the US wants NATO countries to spend more on defense, but then puts restrictions on our military purchases," the Turkish defense minister stressed.
According to Akar, Ankara is seeking to balance its relations with Washington, which is seen as Turkey’s strategic partner. He noted that the two countries have shared goals and values and called on Washington to stop supporting the Kurdish Self-Defense Forces, which could create a corridor for terrorism and lead to instability not only in Turkey but in the entire Middle East.