The Foreign Ministry expressed regret after Russia announced that it has formally withdrawn from a Cold War-era arms control pact Tuesday.
"We regret the Russian Federation's decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty). Mainly since 2007, there has been a gradual erosion of the European security architecture in which the CFE Treaty remains a cornerstone.
"Unfortunately, as Russia's decision to withdraw from the CFE Treaty is coming into force on Nov. 7, 2023, meaningful implementation of the treaty by other states parties has become impossible in practice," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The statement came after Russia quit the treaty, accusing NATO members and their "clients" of demonstrating an "inability to negotiate," making any agreements with them "impossible."
Türkiye, under such conditions, with other NATO allies that are party to the treaty, needed to suspend the implementation of the treaty for as long as necessary, the ministry added.
"This decision is, in essence, reversible. The need for the foundations and fundamental principles of the legally binding CFE treaty that provide balance, transparency and predictability among military forces with its numerical limitations and sub-regional system, including the flank regime, continues.
"Modernization, as may be needed for the European security architecture in the upcoming period, can only be built on this basis. In this respect, we will continue exchanges on this matter with all relevant parties," the statement read.
The current extraordinary period increases the importance of a return to the full implementation of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation arrangements for international security, it added.
The CFE was a landmark post-Cold War arms control agreement signed on Nov. 19, 1990, in Paris between two military blocs, NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
It imposed limits on five key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe – tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters, and combat aircraft – and mandated the destruction of excess weaponry.
In 1999, an updated CFE treaty was drafted and approved in Istanbul, Türkiye, taking into account new realities such as the Warsaw Pact's dissolution and NATO expansion.
Because NATO countries did not ratify the agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Russia's participation in the CFE treaty in 2007.
Earlier in May, Putin signed a decree denouncing the CFE, almost two weeks after Russian lawmakers approved Moscow's withdrawal from the treaty.
