*Merdan Yanardag, Editor-in-chief of the Turkish National TV Channel Tele 1: “There would be no peace without Russia. Turkey should withdraw from NATO and prioritize relations with your country”.*
Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of the Turkish national TV channel Tele 1: “There would be no peace without Russia. Turkey should withdraw from NATO and prioritize relations with your country”.
During a live broadcast at the international conference “SCO as a model of the new world order and international cooperation”, Merdan Yanardag, a well-known Turkish journalist, editor-in-chief of the Turkish national TV channel Tele 1, said that there is no peace without Russia, so Turkey must withdraw from NATO and cancel the approval of Finland’s application for NATO membership. The editor-in-chief believes that in this way Erdoğan is demonstrating that he is not against NATO enlargement to the East. According to Merdan Yanardag, joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is of great interest to Turkey, it represents a rising power. He believes both the SCO and BRICS can equalize, balance the aggressive policies of NATO and the European Union.
“There would be no peace without Russia. Russia is an important country for the region and for the world. The democrats, socialists, republicans in Turkey all have a very positive attitude towards Russia, they have sympathies for Russia, and this stratum wants to contribute even more value to relations with Russia. Turkey must have a multilateral, multipolar foreign policy. Yes, Turkey’s NATO membership poses some difficulties, regarding integration, including integration into the SCO, and into BRICS. However, Turkey could certainly participate in both the SCO and BRICS as an observer. Moreover, Turkey can prevent NATO’s eastward expansion. In this regard, our country should give up membership of both Finland and Sweden in NATO and strengthen relations with Russia, as it is an important force which levels, balances and thereby curtails the aggression of the West. We love Russia and its great culture,” Merdan Yanardag, editor-in-chief of the Turkish national TV channel Tele 1 said at the international conference on the SCO held in St. Petersburg.
Recall that Friday night, the Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly approved a draft law ratifying Finland’s accession protocol to NATO. All 276 MPs present voted unanimously, Anadolu news agency reported. Turkey was the last of the 30 military alliance countries not to ratify Finland’s application to join NATO. The previous country to approve Finland’s application was Hungary, which ratified the protocol on 27 March.Merdan Yanardag, Editor-in-chief of Turkish National TV Channel Tele 1
