Ankara announced on Monday that Turkey will not be a party or one of the countries seeking to prolong the war in Ukraine, noting that there are players who believe this will weaken Russia.
Fahrettin Altun, the head of the communications department under the Turkish President, said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, distributed by the administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, today, Monday: “Turkey’s goal under any circumstances is to contribute to the establishment of a just peace. On the other hand, there are players who believe that it is beneficial for them to drag out this war as long as possible. They believe that Russia will be weakened if the war continues, and they support the Ukrainians only as long as they can prolong the war.”
Altun emphasized that “Turkey has not been and never will be one of them. We must believe in peace and strive to achieve it.”
At the same time, a representative of the Erdogan administration noted that Turkey “with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, stopped the passage of warships in the Black Sea and complied with the Montreux Convention.”
According to Altun, Ankara “also delivered a large amount of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people.”
He also made it clear that the sanctions imposed on Russia because of the situation in Ukraine will be legitimate only if the decision on them is taken under the auspices of the UN.
Source: TASS