2 yıl önce

Türkiye's senior official pens letter, slams anti-Erdogan op-ed

Türkiye's communications director said President Erdogan's key policy choices reflect his commitment to defending the interests of Turkish citizens in an uncertain world.

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Altun said that Erdogan has an important role in the “regional and global geopolitical arena."

Türkiye has become a global actor under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's leadership, and he will continue to take constructive steps without bending a knee, the nation's communications director has said.

Fahrettin Altun wrote an article published in The National News newspaper on Friday, criticising an op-ed piece, also published in the same news outlet, that "contained unfair and untrue statements" against the Turkish president and the country's foreign and national security policy.

The National News columnist Raghida Dergham said in the article titled “How Erdogan’s re-election bid is viewed by the rest of the world" that the Türkiye elections will have geopolitical implications.

“Regardless of the perspectives of foreign governments, the Turkish people alone will decide the future of our country in the upcoming elections - a right that many nations still do not have,” Altun said in his article.

Fahrettin Altun underlined that Erdogan's policies are focused on bringing peace and stability in the region and around the world.

Türkiye has been actively involved in bringing calm to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that has affected global energy and food shortages.

"Türkiye hosted multiple meetings between Russian and Ukrainian officials, including their foreign ministers, and brokered the grain deal to prevent a global food crisis," Altun wrote.

Erdogan's balanced approach to the conflict helped to swap hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Altun also reminded that Türkiye is pursuing counter-terror operations in the region while it is "hosting more Syrian asylum seekers than any other country."

Türkiye, as the second biggest army in the NATO alliance, has conducted operations against Daesh, PKK/YPG and other terror groups in the region.

Separately, Türkiye has been an active part of military operations under NATO in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Refuting the criticism of Türkiye's role towards Sweden's and Finland's membership, Altun said Ankara remains one of the most powerful members in the Alliance.

"Regarding the membership applications of Sweden and Finland, Türkiye reiterated its commitment to NATO's open door policy yet requested those countries to revisit some of their policies that Türkiye believed to undermine the Alliance’s values," Altun said.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies