President Erdoğan said repeated Russian infringements of Turkey`s airspace in the past few days were incompatible with the close links the two countries have and added that the Russian administration was close to losing Turkey as a friend.
He noted that the NATO Council had held an emergency session and released a tough statement condemning Russian actions. "It said violating Turkish airspace meant violating NATO airspace. I must admit that Russian statements about these violations cannot be deemed as serious. Russia perpetrating such acts with a neighboring country with which it has a high-level cooperation council is unbecoming." He said he had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin late last month and also spoke to him after Russia began its air strikes in Syria. "Violations of our airspace after all that do not correspond to serious statesmanship. We are definitely upset. It should not have happened." When asked if he would be talking to Putin to prevent the violations from deteriorating into clashes, Erdoğan said: "I don`t believe Russia would do such a thing. NATO`s emergency meeting showed how seriously they took the matter." He said the violations occurred after he talked with Putin, and he did not believe it meaningful to call Putin again under such circumstances.
He said the Turkey-U.S. dialogue on the Syrian crisis had begun long ago, with foreign ministers and military officials involved in close contact. "I will probably talk to President Barack Obama next week to discuss the latest developments in detail."
When asked how he viewed both the U.S. and Russia voicing their intention to help the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Erdoğan said he did not believe the U.S. and Russia would be on the same page on a matter that was of such critical importance for Turkey. "First of all, Turkey and the U.S. are strategic allies. We are a member of NATO. Can you imagine these two countries being on the same page when Turkey is wronged? That`s impossible. Everyone needs to know that the PYD and PKK are one and the same. Russia is not in Syria against ISIS. They once inadvertently let it slip that in their opinion every group against the regime is a terrorist group. It appears their real intention is to build a base in Latakia and strengthen their military presence in Syria. All countries, including the U.S., need to take a stand after the NATO council meeting. We cannot tolerate the current state of affairs."
When asked about the close commercial ties between the two countries, Erdoğan argued that trade ties were a matter that both sides needed to be sensitive about. "If Russia doesn`t build the Mersin Akkuyu Nuclear Plant, someone else will. They have already invested $3 billion there. So, it is Russia that needs to be careful there. On the issue of our natural gas imports, we are their top natural gas customer. Losing Turkey will be a major loss for Russia. If necessary, Turkey can get the gas from elsewhere. So, Russia needs to assess these issues carefully. There is a high-level cooperation council mechanism between the two countries. The council`s end would be wrong for Russia too."
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