Turkey Opens Up Reasons For Not Giving Russia Sanctions

ANKARA – Turkey is not following in the footsteps of the West in imposing sanctions on Russia as it is guided by pragmatic economic considerations and a “policy of balance”.

The statement was made by the spokesman for the Turkish president Ibrahim Kalin in an interview with Haberturk TV.

Kalin said Ankara was pursuing a “policy of balance” in its relations with Russia.

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“Because we depend on foreign energy sources, we develop relations with Russia as we did with Iran,” he said, noting that Turkey also enjoys good relations with the United States and other Western countries.

“We are not imposing sanctions on Russia for the Ukraine war. Of course, we must protect the interests of our country,” he said.

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In Kalin’s opinion, “Imposing sanctions on Moscow will hurt the Turkish economy more than Russia.”

“We took a clear stance. At this time, Westerners have also accepted it. They didn’t say anything about Turkey’s position for geopolitical reasons,” Kalin said.

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