Turkey joining BRICS or ASEAN does not mean that the country is giving up NATO. This was stated today by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted by the Turkish media.
The president spoke to journalists on his plane back from New York, where he participated in the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He answered questions from journalists on various issues.
Just because we are a NATO member country, we cannot sever our ties with the Turkic and Islamic world. The group of emerging market economies BRICS and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) are structures that offer us opportunities to develop our economic cooperation. Participation in these structures does not mean abandoning NATO. We do not think that these alliances and collaborations are alternative to each other, the Turkish president said, quoted by CNN-Turk TV.
In his words, Turkey's accession to BRICS and ASEAN “will change the arithmetic of the regions”.
The Turkish leader added that his country “cannot ignore the fact that, along with relations with Europe and America, it has relations with Central Asia, Russia, the Far East, with the countries of the Persian Gulf, with Africa“.< /p>
„Turkey cannot sever these ties just because it is a member of NATO,”, Erdogan stressed.
The Turkish head of state also spoke about the problem related to the war in Ukraine.
We told the Ukrainian side that we are ready to participate in the peace conference proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan said.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and our intelligence will be in contact with Ukraine on this matter. We would like our country to join this process for the sake of achieving peace in the region. This war can be ended through diplomacy and dialogue, the Turkish leader said.
However, the president added that currently the parties are not close to reaching a peace decision.
Erdogan also indicated that he believes the UN has lost the ability to carry out its mission of preventing wars and cannot protect its own staff.
The UN is in a position where it cannot fulfill its mission to prevent wars, cannot protect even its own staff and cannot hold Israel accountable for what it has done, Erdogan said, quoted by Anadolu Agency.
He stated that he was “surprised“ of the number of UN staff killed in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Regarding the relations between Ankara and Washington, Erdogan pointed out that the difficulties in relations between the countries remain regardless of the personality of the president. He expressed a desire for change in this regard after the US elections.