Türkİye, Politics

Turkey's S-400 bid not against NATO spirit, says MP

Turkish opposition MP Kamil Aydin said purchase of Russian S-400 was due to NATO’s conduct against Turkey

Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu  | 22.07.2019 - Update : 22.07.2019
Turkey's S-400 bid not against NATO spirit, says MP

ANKARA

Turkey's procurement of the Russian S-400 defense system, is not against the spirit of NATO alliance, a leading lawmaker of Turkey's opposition, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said on Monday.

“There is no such rule within the NATO. On the contrary, every country [in NATO] is allowed to buy the weaponry they want," Kamil Aydin, deputy chair of the MHP, told Anadolu Agency.

He pointed out that the NATO ally Greece had purchased the S-300 air defense missile system from Russia earlier and these missiles are deployed in Crete Island.

“Turkey's purchase of S-400s is not illegal," Aydin said.

Rejecting claims that Turkey was taking Russian and Iranian line in the Middle East, the MP, said Turkey was still a powerful ally of the NATO.

“We are still preserving our spirit of alliance with NATO," he added.

Underlining that there were no eternal friends and foes in the international relations, Aydin said that Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 defense system was not "a cause” but a "result of NATO's treatments to Turkey."

Following unsuccessful efforts to purchase an air defense system from the U.S., Ankara was forced to approach Russia in 2017, to acquire the S-400s system.

The delivery of S-400 components began last week. So far 15 shipments of related equipment have landed in Turkey so far, over past six days.

Aydin said that NATO should have supported Turkey after the defeated coup attempt in 2016 and against the security threats emanating from Syria.

"We think that NATO would fulfill the law of alliance, but that was not the case," he said.

FETO and Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Aydin reminded that the Article 5 of the NATO Treaty talks about the principle of collective defense. “It remains a unique and enduring principle that binds its members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the Alliance,” he added.

In this spirit, Aydin noted, that Turkey had approached the U.S. to purchase Patriot air defense system. But there was on response to Turkish demand.

"We needed to find a solution to the national security issue. The price of S-400 was affordable. They were more sophisticated and, long-ranged,” he said.

The U.S. has also allied itself with the PKK/YPG to fight Daesh in Syria. Turkey has long objected to the U.S. giving support and weapons to the PKK/YPG/PYD, arguing that using one terrorist group, to fight another makes no sense.

The U.S. had pledged to track all weapons sent to the PKK/PYD and share the information with Turkey.

However, Turkey’s National Security Council said in June 2017 that some weapons sent to Syria, had been seized from the PKK hideouts in Turkey.


- Eastern Mediterranean row

On the Eastern Mediterranean hot topic, Aydin said, Turkey’s position in the region is backed by the rights, granted by the international law.

Charging the U.S. and the EU for applying double standards against Turkey on the Eastern Mediterranean issue, he said Turkey had consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in region.

He asserted that Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has similar rights on resources in the area.

Since this spring, Ankara has sent two drilling vessels -- Fatih and most recently Yavuz -- to the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting the rights of Turkey and the TRNC, over the resources in the region.

The Turkish-flagged drillship Fatih launched offshore drilling operations this May around 75 kilometers (42 nautical miles) off the western coast of the island of Cyprus.

Athens and Greek Cypriots have opposed the move, threatening to arrest the ships’ crews and enlisting EU leaders to join their criticism.

In 1974, following a coup aiming at Cyprus’ annexation by Greece, Ankara had to intervene as a guarantor power. In 1983, the TRNC was founded.

Since then, there have been several attempts to resolve the Cyprus dispute, all ending in failures. The latest one, held with the participation of the guarantor countries -- Turkey, Greece, and the U.K. -- concluded in 2017, in Switzerland.

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