ANKARA, April 26. /TASS/. The Turkish opposition intends to continue developing the country’s relationship with Russia if it wins the May 14 election, but would accentuate the institutional side of bilateral interactions, Ahmet Kamil Erozan, deputy chairman of the IYI Parti (The Good Party), said in an interview with TASS on Wednesday.

"Six [opposition] parties have worked out a political roadmap. Its content also reflects the issue of relations with Russia. These relations will be bolstered on the principles of equality, balanced and constructive dialogue at the institutional level. In our foreign policy, mutual interests and priorities will be determined by the orientation as well as a realistic approach and common sense," he said.

According to Erozan, as regards relations with Russia, [our mutual] status as neighbors in the region and long-term history [of interaction] are more important factors than Turkey’s current allied relationships, with NATO, for example. "Sometimes, the proximity of countries may be more important than allied relations. And we need to move forward with an understanding of this fact. Our relations with Russia date back to 1492, more than five centuries ago. America wasn’t even on the map then," he noted.

The party official pointed out that "over these five centuries, Turkey learned well what Russia is like and Russia also has become well acquainted with Turkey." "Yes, we have had wars. Yet on a [historical] scale stretching over five centuries, they occupied only a very small period of time," he reiterated. Erozan noted that "now there is a crisis in the region" over the situation in Ukraine. "And we have hit a dead end, switching to a frozen crisis. Not a single war can be won through purely military means. And this entire situation is affecting our relations with Russia in various ways as well. Of course, America simply has to manage the war in Ukraine. But, for us here [in the region], it’s a more difficult matter to exist amid all of this," he noted.

Erozan added that due to geographical conditions and its settled relationship with Moscow, Ankara "is compelled to delineate these relations with Russia in a different way," due, among other reasons, "to Turkey’s high degree of dependence on Russia, particularly with respect to energy products."