Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun answered the questions of Italian newspaper Il Messaggero ahead of the third Intergovernmental Summit to be held between Türkiye and Italy on July 5, and noted, “There are certain players that believe that they could benefit from the war dragging on for as long as possible. Türkiye has never been such a country. Nor will we be like that in the future. We must believe in peace and strive for peace.”
Upon the question, “Türkiye has strived a lot to ensure peace in Ukraine. Do you think it is still possible for the war to end and a peace agreement to be reached?” Director of Communications Altun said Türkiye has a truly special position and has been striving to use that power for peace, under the strong leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, since the Ukraine crisis started.
Director of Communications Altun noted that Türkiye has been a NATO ally for 70 years and Turkish soldiers have carried out missions in many regions, from Kosovo to Afghanistan, on NATO’s behalf, and that Türkiye is also an EU candidate and considers EU membership as a strategic objective.
At the same time, Türkiye carries a lot of weight in a rather large part of the world. Türkiye has been a player in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean for centuries. Moreover, it has made very serious progress in the area of defense under our President’s leadership in recent years, Fahrettin Altun said.
Indicating that once war broke out in Ukraine, Türkiye implemented the Montreux Convention to stop the entry of warships into the Black Sea while at the same time delivering a significant amount of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people, Director of Communications Altun stated the following:
"We were already there when those players, which attempt to legitimize their own positions by criticizing Türkiye today, were doing absolutely nothing for Ukraine. That thousands of Ukrainians fled the war and relocated their families and businesses to Türkiye is an embodiment of their faith in Türkiye. All those factors enable us to speak with Ukraine and Russia simultaneously. As a stabilizing actor, Türkiye’s responsibility has been to keep the dialogue channels open between the parties.
As you know, we were first to bring together the foreign ministers of the two countries in the margins of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. The negotiations resumed in Istanbul. Our President addressed the delegations there and said that “we believe that a just peace has no losers.” That statement is very important. Türkiye’s goal is to contribute to a just peace under any circumstances. By contrast, there are certain players that believe that they could benefit from the war dragging on for as long as possible. They think that “Russia will be weakened if the war continues” and offer only sufficient support to the Ukrainians to prolong the war. Türkiye has never been such a country. Nor will we be like that in the future. We must believe in peace and strive for peace."
"We keep working for a just peace"
In response to the question, "Do you think the European Union and the US should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine?”, Director of Communications Altun said, "You should ask that question to the EU’s representatives and U.S. officials. What really matters here is to ensure that serious, sincere and realistic efforts are not clouded by slogans and headlines. States cannot make policy based on what is being written on social media."
Noting that Türkiye took every opportunity to clearly state that Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political unity should be preserved, Director of Communications Altun said, “We stressed that opening national borders to debate would only lead to blood, tears and destruction. At the same time, we keep working for a just peace.”
Upon the question whether sanctions were an effective way to stop President Putin of Russia, Director of Communications Altun stated that the question of sanctions has unfortunately been seriously politicized in recent years, and continued, “You also know that Türkiye has been subjected to certain sanctions with baseless excuses and political considerations. As a matter of fact, our defense industry –which the West keeps praising– was also targeted with politically-motivated sanctions. That is why we believe that sanctions can only be meaningful and legitimate if adopted under the UN’s roof.”
Sharing his observation that that those countries, which make the boldest statements on sanctions, are reluctant to put their words into action, Director of Communications Altun said, “Today, the European Union makes the boldest statements on sanctions against Russia. Yet they paid hundreds of billions of Euros in energy bills [to Russia] since the war started. Indeed, they haven’t said a single word about Greece, which transports the majority of Russian oil to the world. To make matters worse, Greece has been undermining NATO’s southern flank at this critical time by militarizing the Aegean islands in violation of international law. Before expecting results, the West should end its ambivalent position.”
"We are doing more than our fair share to address the grain issue"
In response to another question, Fahrettin Altun stated that Türkiye is doing more than its fair share to address the grain issue. "We adopted the role of facilitator and, as a result of contacts, emerged a common thinking about establishing an operations center in Istanbul. Our hope is that the grain-filled vessels will depart as soon as possible. We care deeply about the safe implementation of that process and the preventing of any accidents. We are cautiously optimistic regarding concrete progress being made on that front soon.” Altun noted.
Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership
Upon a question about Türkiye’s objection to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership, Director of Communications Altun noted the following:
"From our perspective, the question of Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership is exclusively about Sweden and Finland. If those nations, which remained neutral for a long time, are admitted into NATO, we will be pledging to defend them under Article 5. Therefore, we need to see that those countries have fully internalized NATO’s values and objectives and, at the same time, are fully committed to the Turkish people’s safety. Indeed, the fight against terrorism is one of our Alliance’s priorities. The PKK is considered a terrorist entity by the European Union, but there is still no attempt to stop it from raising funds, recruiting and spreading propaganda in the relevant countries. Likewise, they provide a safe haven to YPG, which is PKK’s Syrian branch, and FETÖ, which attempt a coup in Türkiye. We cannot sign off on Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership until we are convinced that lasting and concrete steps have been taken in those areas."
"As Southern European nations, we should be engaged in much closer cooperation"
In response to a question about how Italy and Türkiye could cooperate in the fields of economy, war and refugees, Director of Communication Altun stated that they face similar problems as two Mediterranean countries and NATO allies and that there are many areas of cooperation. Director of Communications Altun went on to say, "Specifically, combating irregular migration and preserving peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean serve Türkiye and Italy’s shared interests."
Stating that the bilateral trade volume between Türkiye and Italy has reached 23 billion Euros and it would serve both nations’ interests to further increase that number, Director of Communications Altun said they care deeply about defense projects at the same time.
“The SAMP-T missile project, which our countries have been implementing with France’s contributions, is a primary case in point. We find valuable Italy’s support for Türkiye’s EU membership since the beginning. As Southern European nations, we should be engaged in much closer cooperation. I hope that the intergovernmental summit, which will take place on 5 July, will serve that purpose.” Director of Communications Altun said.