Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Thursday against conflict between NATO and Russia, telling an alliance summit aimed at bolstering Ukraine that diplomacy must also be an option.
The summit in Washington produced announcements including F-16 transfers to Ukraine and a US plan to deploy long-range missiles in Germany, with Russia warning of a response to the “very serious threat” from NATO.
“I shared my views candidly here that NATO should never be allowed to be a party to the war in Ukraine,” Erdogan told a news conference after the 75th anniversary summit.
Erdogan said that Turkey, a rare NATO member not to join sanctions on Russia, supported the “territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
“I also emphasized that diplomacy should not be excluded and that negotiations do not necessarily mean surrendering,” he said.
White House candidate Donald Trump, who in his previous term forged a close if complicated relationship with Erdogan, has spoken of forcing a settlement on Ukraine if he defeats President Joe Biden in November.
Biden used the summit to rally Western allies to defend Ukraine through a steady flow of weapons and promises of a path for Kyiv to join NATO — a prospect that is anathema to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments published by Russian news agencies, said that NATO was now “fully involved in the conflict over Ukraine.”
– Balancing act –
Turkey has sought to balance ties between its two Black Sea neighbors Russia and Ukraine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ankara has sent drones to Ukraine but shied away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
Last year, Erdogan said Ukraine “undoubtedly” deserved NATO membership when he met President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Thursday, Erdogan also played down the influence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional bloc that Moscow and Beijing have promoted as a counterweight to US hegemony.
“We do not think that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an alternative to NATO,” Erdogan said.
Turkey has been an SCO dialogue partner since 2012 and Erdogan said at its summit earlier this month he wanted full membership.
Namik Tan, a lawmaker for the opposition CHP party who previously served as Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, called out the government for its friendly relations with Russia.
“We were the only NATO country that attended the 24th SCO Summit last week,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Isn’t it a contradiction?”
Erdogan, who has roots in political Islam and is an outspoken critic of Israel, also called for more NATO involvement in the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“Israel’s threats and attempts to spread the conflict must come to an end,” he said.
“Otherwise, our region will face the risk of deeper conflicts and even a war.”