In an interview with Politico, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that he had told “everybody that any restrictive measures against Turkey will ruin everything.” “This dialogue has to be based on trust so nobody can justify any restrictive measures against Turkey.”
“We started giving positive messages because we took the joint statement of the December summit as an extended hand to Turkey. That’s why we reciprocated,” said the Turkish minister.
The Turkish minister argued that the language used by EU leaders in October was simply “threatening,” while in December it was “better” but still contained parts with which Ankara disagreed.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu defended the purchase of the Russian S400 missile system, which was a source of concern for NATO allies, and prompted the United States to impose sanctions on Ankara.
“We discussed it and I told him that our proposal to the previous administration is on the table, to establish a joint working group of experts to examine the claims of the United States very carefully and NATO should be in that,” he said. “This is the only way that we can continue to deal with this issue, instead of sanctions.”
Finally, the Turkish foreign minister stressed that “what I said was very clear: unless we are guaranteed to purchase air defense systems from the United States … or from other allies … we have to seek other alternatives.”
Source: ANA-MPA