Putin may visit Türkiye for nuclear plant’s inauguration: Erdoğan

ANKARA

Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Türkiye for the inauguration ceremony of the Akkuyu Nuclear Plant on April 27, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

“We are currently continuing Akkuyu successfully. On April 27, maybe Mr. Putin will come, or we will connect with an online system, and hopefully, we will take the first step of Akkuyu,” Erdoğan said in a televised interview on March 29.

Emphasizing that the region Türkiye is located in is turning into a field of international struggle that is getting tougher, President Erdoğan said, “We are experiencing a world characterized by crises and wars. We were able to build a strong, independent Türkiye in this environment, and we need to continue it.”

Türkiye struggled to keep the environment of war away from the country and continues to do so, Erdoğan added.

Elaborating on his government’s pledge for the upcoming period, the president said, “One, we will not bring our country to war. Two, we will keep the family institution strong. Three, we will be more sensitive about immigration, mainly from Syria, and we will not let the immigrants be abused.”

“Had it not been for our efforts in the last two years, the Western club would have drawn Türkiye into a war zone against Russia,” Erdoğan said and vowed they would not allow this as long as his government is in power.

Erdoğan underlined that Ankara would continue its efforts for reaching peace between Russia and Ukraine.

“Another factor that we will talk about is definitely bringing this process to a conclusion with a serious and determined mediation between Russia and Ukraine,” the president said.

Erdoğan stressed that his party will carry out a “quiet but profound election campaign period,” respecting the suffering of the earthquake victims.

“We have been preparing for the 2023 elections for 20 years. We know the importance of the 100th anniversary of our republic for our country. Due to the earthquake disaster, we changed our election campaign,” he said.

Evaluating what kind of changes might come up with the D’Hondt system to be implemented in the May 14 elections, Erdoğan said the parties running the elections with their logos will only appeal to their supporters in the parliamentary elections.

“Whatever our parties, which are determined to enter the elections with their own logo, take from here, of course, they will be able to walk into the future with it,” he said.

Stating that they frequently discussed this situation and that there are aspects of the system that need improvement, Erdoğan said that they would discuss them after the election, as he does not believe it would be beneficial to talk about them in advance.

Meanwhile, Erdoğan said Türkiye and Azerbaijan were ready to provide natural gas to Hungary through the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP).

“As of now, we are ready to provide all kinds of support with Azerbaijan regarding the delivery of natural gas to Hungary through TANAP,” Erdogan said at a joint press conference with visiting Hungarian President Katalin Novak on March 29.

In the meantime, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a visit to Türkiye on April 6-7, the Turkish media reported on March 30.

Lavrov will meet Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and the two ministers will discuss developments regarding the war in Ukraine and civil war in Syria as well as bilateral political matters.