İYİ Party rejects Russia’s move against Ukraine

ANKARA

Opposition İYİ (Good) Party Leader Meral Akşener on Feb. 23 criticized Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and urged the Turkish government to use deterrent diplomacy on the crisis.

“It is also unacceptable to pose a threat by amassing troops on the border of a sovereign country like Ukraine. We call on Russia to end its deployment,” Akşener said at her party’s weekly parliamentary group meeting.

Russia should withdraw from the annexed Crimea Peninsula, and it is also unacceptable that Russia deployed troops to Ukraine’s border, she stated.

The desire to separate Donetsk and Luhansk from Ukraine is a result of Russia’s geographical expansion strategy and this will inevitably have repercussions for Turkey, the politician said.

İYİ Party is against the violation of the sovereignty of one country by another sovereign state and also recognizes the right of the attacked state to self-defense, she noted.

Akşener also criticized the Turkish government’s statements on the tension.

“There is a concept called deterrence policy in international relations. It is a policy of discouraging a state from possible threatening actions. It is a policy of deterrence through sanctions,” she said.

“There is a crisis in Ukraine. However, the statements of Mr. [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan and his team brought Turkey to a fragile point in the eyes of NATO and Russia,” Akşener added.