NATO is the cornerstone of European security and Turkey is an indispensable ally for ensuring regional security, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday, underlining Ankara's diplomatic efforts for peace in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking to reporters on his way back from Brussels where he attended NATO's extraordinary leaders' summit, Erdoğan said the Ukraine crisis has revealed two facts.
"The first of these is that NATO is the cornerstone and main structure of European security. We have seen this very clearly. Secondly, Turkey is an indispensable ally for ensuring regional security."
"Many of the leaders expressed this during both the bilateral meetings and the summit meeting. Turkey, which has made the most extensive contributions to NATO during our 70-year membership, has, unlike the allies, demonstrated this in all aspects, on land, at sea, in the air, and in its political activities. With the spirit of alliance solidarity, we will continue to do our part to the best of our abilities. Turkey continues this process with the same determination and reliability," the president explained.
"On the other hand, we certainly consider the use of weapons of mass destruction as a crime against humanity," he underlined.
Erdoğan noted that Turkey has made great efforts to end the war since the beginning, highlighting his contacts with other leaders and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's diplomatic initiatives with his counterparts.
"All these have been the best example of Turkey's ability to act as a guarantor and mediator," he said.
Turkey has been one of the countries leading efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has impacted millions of civilians. Turkey says it can facilitate peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, but says that a cease-fire and humanitarian corridors are needed first.
Ankara hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya earlier this month. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met for talks in the Turkish resort town of Antalya, which Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara considers the fact that they took place at all a success.
Recently, Ukraine said it was working with Turkey and Israel as mediators to set a place and framework for talks with Russia. Lavrov also said that Moscow views mediation offers from Turkey and Israel to resolve the crisis in Ukraine positively.
Russia-Ukraine negotiations
Erdoğan underlined that there are six chapters being negotiated between Russia and Ukraine, and the two warring sides seem likely to agree on four of them.
"One of them is about the NATO issue. At first, Ukraine was hung up on this issue, but then (President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy began to express that they could give up NATO membership. Another issue is the acceptance of Russian as an official language. Zelenskyy also accepted this. Russian is already a language spoken almost everywhere in Ukraine. There is no problem at this point either," he said.
"Another issue is disarmament. Of course, Ukraine is a state, so there is no question of accepting disarmament from A to Z. But this issue is not incomprehensible either. In other words, the Ukrainian side stated that certain concessions could be made there as well. The fourth issue is that Ukraine also has an agreement here, and that's what they call collective security. Ukraine also showed a positive approach in this regard."
On the other hand, Ukraine is not comfortable with demands regarding the Crimea and Donbass regions, which are against its territorial integrity, according to Erdoğan.
"He (Zelenskyy) finally took a good step on the Donbass issue, in my opinion, we can call it a smart leadership and he said, 'I need to go to a referendum on this issue.'"
"Moreover, when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, we were very openly opposed to this occupation, and since then, in every meeting I have had with (President Vladimir) Putin, I have always said that we oppose this invasion. But at that time, the West did not take a very clear stance on this invasion as it does today. This is what happened to us today because they did not adopt this attitude. Of course, together with Crimea, Donbass, Donetsk, Luhansk, etc., all these became a multiplier of Crimea. And this is how we put forward our stance on this issue. Of course, it is said that four of these six chapters may be accepted by Ukraine at the moment, but there is no positive approach about the other two."
Talks with Zelenskyy, Putin
Erdoğan added that he will have new meetings with both Zelenskyy and Putin in the following days, and they will try to find ways to resolve this crisis.
"I may meet with Putin in the next few days to assess the meetings at the NATO summit, then I plan to tell him 'now, you should be the architect of the next step taken for peace.' We should be looking to settle the conflict by encouraging 'an honorable exit from this.'"
He also reiterated that Turkey will evaluate some sanctions adopted by the United Nations, but it will not abandon its ties with Russia while taking such steps.
Maintaining its neutral and balanced stance, Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.
NATO ally Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Having recently called Russia’s invasion an unacceptable violation of international law, Turkey has carefully formulated its rhetoric not to offend Moscow, with which it has close energy, defense and tourism ties.
While forging close ties with Russia on energy, defense and trade and relying heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey has sold drones to Ukraine, which angered Moscow. Turkey also opposes Russian policies in Syria and Libya, as well as Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Erdoğan has repeatedly said Turkey will not abandon its relations with Russia or Ukraine, underlining that Ankara's ability to speak to both sides is an asset.
French role in NATO
About French President Emmanuel Macron's "NATO brain dead" comments in the past, Erdoğan said: "That was an unfortunate statement. President Macron is currently one of the most active leaders in NATO."
Macron in 2019 warned fellow European countries that they could no longer rely on the U.S. to defend NATO allies. "What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO," he had said.
Also commenting on the NATO summit in Brussels, Erdoğan said that they had the opportunity to thoroughly evaluate the developments in the Russia-Ukraine war and its repercussions with the allies.
"We shared information with our allies about the intense diplomatic efforts we continue to achieve toward a cease-fire and peace. I emphasized the importance of NATO's role from the point where the crisis started to escalate. Here, too, I have openly expressed our stance on preserving NATO's coherence. I said that NATO should not be eroded for the sake of daily political calculations. Our summit was fruitful and successful in every respect."
He also said that Turkey welcomed the extension of the mandate of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for one more year. "This was a decision we strongly supported. As a matter of fact, it was a decision made by consensus, and it was extended for another year."
The extraordinary meeting of NATO heads of state and government on Thursday discussed the alliance's response to Russia's war on Ukraine, which entered its second month on Thursday. The summit, with a particular focus on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, reviewed the steps the alliance will take to strengthen its defense and deterrence.
During the summit, NATO allies extended the term of Stoltenberg at the helm of the Western military alliance by a year until Sept. 30, 2023. NATO leaders also decided to reset the alliance's long-term defense posture at the eastern flank and to send further support to embattled Ukraine. Stoltenberg warned that the alliance must boost its defenses to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and "respond to a new security reality in Europe."
After the summit, Erdoğan said Thursday that he is in close contact with the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia with a "view to putting an immediate end to the war."
Erdoğan noted that Zelenskyy wants Turkey to mediate in talks with Moscow. He added that Russia also viewed the Turkish mediation in a positive light, stressing that Ankara continued to be in "intense contact" with both Ukraine and Russia to end the war "as soon as possible."
"If there is a demand for Turkey's mediation role, we're ready for it," he noted.
Saying his country's main aim was to reconcile the parties, Erdoğan added that "any method of approach to the Russia-Ukraine crisis that doesn't prioritize peace will result in disaster."