Türkiye aims to bring the opposing sides in the Ukraine war together frequently in order to maintain dialogue and prevent an escalation into a more destructive war, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday.
Touching upon the recent meeting of the CIA and Russian Foreign Intelligence Service heads in the Turkish capital Ankara, Erdoğan told Turkish press members on his way back from the G-20 summit in Indonesia that neither the United States nor Russia planned to use nuclear weapons.
"Let me say this, according to the information I received from my intelligence chief, neither of the sides will use nuclear weapons as of now," he said.
Erdoğan said he wanted to keep both sides in close dialogue.
"Of course, we want to keep them in close contact and make them come together often," he said.
"God forbid, (use of nuclear weapons) could lead to a new world war. Let's not let that happen," he added.
The U.S. and Russian spy chiefs held a rare face-to-face meeting in Ankara on Monday on Moscow's nuclear threats in Ukraine and Americans held by the Kremlin, the White House said.
In what appeared to be the highest-level direct talks between officials of the two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns met with Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service.
Türkiye on Monday officially confirmed that a meeting between the CIA and Russian Foreign Intelligence Service heads was held in the Turkish capital Ankara, a remarkable meeting given the antipathy between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing Ukraine war.
"We confirm that Türkiye hosted a meeting between the heads of the Russian and U.S. intelligence agencies earlier today," Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish communications director, confirmed.
Altun added: "Hosted by the (Turkish) National Intelligence Agency (MİT), that meeting represents yet another major contribution by Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to global peace."
The meeting related to threats to international security, starting with the use of nuclear weapons, he noted.
"Having hosted a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers (in March) and facilitated the grain deal (in July), Türkiye will continue to negotiate with all relevant parties for peace and shall not refrain from taking initiative during this process," he stressed.
Altun underlined that Ankara remains committed to its current policy, which makes it the only country with open channels of communication with all relevant parties.
Türkiye has been internationally praised for its policy of balance toward Russia amid the Ukraine war, allowing it to broker such breakthroughs as this summer's Black Sea grain corridor deal and a prisoner transfer.
Recent statements by Russian and Ukrainian leaders have suggested a possible willingness to engage in talks, though Kyiv's preconditions seem to rule them out for now.
Türkiye has long pushed for a cease-fire and a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which began in late February.
Normalization processes
Regarding the ongoing normalization process with Egypt and a possible diplomatic normalization between Türkiye and Syria's Bashar Assad regime, Erdoğan said that Türkiye can reconsider its relations with the countries that it has trouble with.
"There is no eternal resentment or quarreling in politics. When the time comes, you sit down, evaluate it, and you can make a renewal accordingly. At the moment, as Türkiye, we can reconsider relations with countries with which we have difficulties in these matters. Especially after the June election, we can do it all over again. And accordingly, I hope we can continue on our way."
Erdoğan previously said he could meet with Assad when the right time comes, reinforcing tentative recent steps to restore ties between the two sides in its southern neighbor's war.
Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decadelong Syrian war. Turkish backing has been vital to sustaining Syrian moderate opposition in their last major territorial foothold in the northwest, after Assad defeated the opposition across the rest of the country, aided by Russia and Iran.
In August, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu highlighted the necessity of a strong central administration to prevent the disintegration of Syria. While Çavuşoğlu said that he had a quick word with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in October in Serbia’s capital Belgrade, the Foreign Ministry underlined that Türkiye would continue to show solidarity with the people of Syria and pursue efforts to find a permanent solution to the Syrian crisis.
The normalization process between Türkiye and Egypt continues at a gradual pace. Discussions are being held at the intelligence level and extending the process over time does not mean that it is not progressing positively, Ankara says. After an eight-year break, an Egyptian delegation came to Ankara four months after the two-day visit of a Turkish delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal to Cairo, the capital of Egypt, in May last year, and consultative meetings were held.
Last year, Türkiye said it had resumed diplomatic contact with Egypt and wanted to improve cooperation after years of tensions that began with the disruption of relations in 2013. In May 2021, a delegation of senior Turkish officials traveled to Egypt for an official visit – the first since 2013 – to discuss normalizing diplomatic relations amid efforts by the two countries to improve bilateral ties that deteriorated following the Arab Spring. At the end of the visit, the two countries issued a joint statement describing the exploratory round of bilateral talks between them as "frank and in-depth." On May 7, 2021, Erdoğan announced the start of a new phase in relations with Egypt, stressing that the talks would continue, develop and expand. The normalization of ties between Türkiye and Egypt is vital for the Eastern Mediterranean, Çavuşoğlu said this year.
Egypt and Türkiye have not deployed ambassadors since 2013, when relations worsened following the ousting of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi by military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, now the country’s president. Türkiye-Egypt ties have continued at the level of charge d'affairs since 2013. During this period, brief meetings were held between the foreign ministers of the two countries on various occasions. Meanwhile, the Turkish Embassy in Cairo and consulate in Alexandria, as well as the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul, have continued their usual activities.
Türkiye has engaged in an effort to mend its frayed ties with regional powers, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. Erdoğan reiterated that Türkiye hopes to maximize its cooperation with Egypt and Gulf nations "on a win-win basis," at a time when Ankara intensified diplomacy to mend its fraught ties with Cairo and some Gulf Arab nations after years of tensions.
Istanbul terror attack
Türkiye will never be frightened off by any sort of provocation and will do whatever is necessary, Erdoğan also said regarding the recent terror attack in Istanbul.
"A claim that ‘this attack is connected to the upcoming election’ is also a part of the fear scenario the terrorist group is trying to spread but my people have excellent foresight and they will never fall for such a ploy. Everyone will let their chips fall when the time for elections comes anyway. So will we. My people, with their superb foresight, will give the appropriate response to these people at the polls," he said.
Erdoğan also briefed about the latest situation: "We closely followed all developments concerning the attack that day. 81 injuries were reported. We were really worried about the casualties. The death toll was unfortunately six people, two of whom were children. I wish God’s blessing on each of them. Five of our citizens are still in intensive care. The number of injured citizens has come down to 25 and the others have been discharged... We have 25 injured so far and five of them are in intensive care. We will see to their treatment and hopefully discharge as soon as possible."
Turkish police arrested the perpetrator of the attack on Istiklal Avenue, Ahlam Albashir, a Syrian woman who planted the explosives, in a pre-dawn raid, while dozens of other suspects were detained.
The police said Albashir has confessed that she was trained by the PKK terror group's Syrian branch YPG as an intelligence operative and entered Türkiye illegally from Afrin, Syria.
The attack left six people dead and injured 81 others, two of them critically.