Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu: If the opposition comes to power, it will drag the country into war

ISTANBUL, 19 April – RIA Novosti. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who ran as a parliamentary candidate on May 14, accused the opposition of trying to drag the country into war.

“We are now following a balanced policy (on the Ukraine crisis – ed.) … Why should we support a certain side in the war and be a party to the conflict? But those who say -” We will take it. drag them,” he said. He noted that even if Turkey does not recognize the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation, Ankara should not support one side in the conflict.

He emphasized that Turkey is not a “pawn” at the game tables of other countries, and that “Ankara creates the rules of the game itself”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the end of March that he would not allow the West to drag his country into a war against Russia.

The candidate’s foreign policy adviser, Ünal Çeviköz, told RIA Novosti that the Turkish opposition is confident that if presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu comes to power, it will be able to maintain good and balanced relations with Russia, but will remind Turkey that it is a NATO member. earlier.

Presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey will be held on 14 May. In the final list of candidates, the only candidate from the “Republican Alliance” is the incumbent president, 69-year-old Erdogan, the only candidate from the opposition “People’s Alliance” is Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, 74, and also the leader of the Homeland party, Muharrem İnce, 58, and the Ata alliance candidate, Sinan Ogan, 55. The pre-election survey results do not yet reveal the favorite between Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu in the upcoming elections, with various polls showing numbers in favor of both.