Türkiye criticizes EU over 'strategic blindness' on Ukraine
BUCHAREST
The European Union decision not to consult with Türkiye on a new mission to provide military assistance to Ukraine is another example of its strategic blindness, the Turkish top diplomat has said, vowing Ankara will continue its efforts for ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“We are happy to see the cooperation between the EU and NATO. The EU has launched a new security assistance mission and it did not consult with Türkiye. To be honest, it is not important for us to be a part of this but I wanted to raise this as an example on how the EU lost its strategic vision because of some member states’ unilateral interests,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a panel at Aspen Institute in Bucharest on Nov. 29.
Çavuşoğlu is in Romania to attend the NATO foreign ministerial meeting with the participation of allied countries as well as Sweden and Finland, two Nordic states which want to join NATO. He was scheduled to hold a three-way meeting with Swedish and Finnish counterparts and bilateral meetings with British and German foreign ministers.
Çavuşoğlu referred to the EU’s Military Assistance Mission that coordinates the union’s support to Ukraine in its ongoing defense against the Russian invasion.
“I say we don’t need to be a part of this mission because everyone knows how we support Ukraine. We will definitely continue to move as security and stability provider in the regions suffering from heavy clashes,” Çavuşoğlu said.
“Türkiye’s success will be the success of Europe. Failure is not an option for us.”
The Turkish minister underlined the mediation role Türkiye has been playing since war broke out on Feb. 24. “We strongly support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including Crimea, and continue our assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, we are taking steps to draw clashes and conflict under control. It was not easy to prolong the Istanbul Grain Deal and to implement it,” he said.
World must be creative to stop war
The increase in the casualties are making peace efforts much more difficult, Çavuşoğlu underlined, “Just issuing condemnations won’t resolve the matter. That’s why we have to act for peace and be creative. As Türkiye, that’s what we are trying to do.”
When they met in Antalya and Istanbul in the early stages of the war, Ukraine and Russia were closer to a deal but the increase in the number of losses and escalation of the clashes complicate negotiations, the Turkish minister stressed.
NATO should unite against terrorism
Minister Çavuşoğlu also called on the allied countries to stand with Türkiye on its fight against terror. “Article 5 of the NATO Peace Treaty has been activated only once after 9/11. The allies should stand with Türkiye which has been the most targeted by terrorism.”
The food and energy crises stemming from the war in Ukraine have exposed the weaknesses of Europe and all the allies should rediscover the fundamentals of the European security architecture after the war, the minister stated.
“We need a collective response against threats regardless of where they come from. Plus, we should not be selective about threats. Terrorism constitutes one of two main threats outlined by the strategic concept during the Madrid Summit of NATO,” he noted.
