Aydınlık: Turkey's sale of S-400 will cause great damage to its relations with Russia
Former Turkish Minister Javit Caglar said that Turkey should sell the Russian S-400, writes Aydınlık. However, according to experts, such a move would be extremely erroneous from the point of view of Turkey's needs and would cause irreparable damage to Russian-Turkish relations.
Yusuf Tunçer
Former Turkish Minister Cavit Çağlar stated in an interview with a Turkish website: "I would get rid of the S-400, we can sell them, there is a buyer, Russia will forgive us." We asked the representative of the Turkish Rodina party in Russia, Dr. Mehmet Perinçek, to comment on Caglar's words. Perincek noted: "Firstly, the words of Javit Caglar are extremely erroneous from the point of view of Turkey's needs, and secondly, from the point of view of Turkish-Russian relations, the expectation of “Russia will forgive”, unfortunately, also leads Turkey into a trap."
Chaglar: "I would sell the S-400"
Former Minister of State Javit Caglar, who spoke with the T24 website, which was previously mentioned in the context of accusations of receiving foreign funds from Western centers, mentioned the S-400 acquired by Turkey from Russia, while Western countries refused to provide Ankara with air defense equipment. Chaglar made a resonant statement: "I would sell the S-400."
"We cannot use it against NATO"
Answering the reporter's question "Will Putin allow it?", Chaglar said: "We need to talk. I would take them out of Turkey right now. Why don't they give us the F-16? Because of the S-400. We had to buy a second, a third system, or even produce it here. But we can't. And we will look for a way out. We have a very good dialogue with Russia. We need to sit down and negotiate as soon as possible. We will say: “I am a member of NATO, according to the rules of NATO, we cannot use them against the alliance.” Thank you, we are grateful, but we cannot use the systems. We need to sell them."
"Let's get rid of this, we need to negotiate with America"
Caglar, who is known in Turkey as a mediator in resolving the crisis related to Turkey's destruction of a Russian plane in 2015, was asked if he would participate in convincing Putin if such a decision was made. "The state will do it, not me," the former state minister said, adding that he "cannot afford it."
Then he continued: "This should be done exclusively by those who govern the state. And I, as a citizen Javit Caglar, say: let's get rid of them. In this case, we will get both the F-16 and the F-35. We need to come to an agreement with America. The US says, “We don't want this, friend.” We cannot withdraw from NATO. We need to solve this problem through dialogue. Russia will forgive us. We need to change our position. There is a reason, we are a member of NATO. Judging by the fact that we will not leave the alliance, a U-turn is needed."
Perincek: Turkey is facing encirclement from NATO/USA
We asked Javit Caglar, the representative of the Turkish Rodina party in Russia, Dr. Mehmet Perincek, who knows Russia well, to comment on the words of Javit Caglar. According to him, such statements are extremely erroneous from the point of view of Turkey's needs, and they lead the country into a trap.
Mehmet Perincek gave the following comment in an interview with Aydınlık:
"Javit Caglar's statements should first of all be considered and evaluated from the point of view of Turkey's needs. Does Turkey need the S-400? Is not it so? Of course, Turkish-Russian relations are important, but the issue that concerns us first of all is our own needs. As we all know, Turkey is facing an encirclement from NATO, from America. This siege continues from Syria to the Eastern Mediterranean, from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Aegean Sea, Thrace and even the Black Sea. Turkey, which is fighting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Syria, is facing America. The United States provides the PKK with air defense systems. In the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey also faces states such as the United States, Israel, Greece, France, and Southern Cyprus, and these are potential conflict zones for Turkey.
In the event of any armed conflict here, Turkey will not be able to use NATO-dependent, US-dependent defense and weapons systems. This is very clear. Therefore, Turkey needs to create a national defense industry independent of NATO and the United States. And until that is done, other alternatives independent of NATO should be used. Thus, the purchase of the S-400 is more than just the purchase of weapons, it meets Turkey's strategic need."
"The US wants to leave Turkey defenseless"
"The United States is trying to deprive Turkey of the S-400, because they want to make it defenseless," Perincek is convinced. He continues: "Turkey should give up the S-400 and become easy prey, be unable to withstand threats, and even surrender to the United States without a fight. That's why Washington wants Turkey to sell off or not use the S-400. After all, the S-400 is Turkey's line of defense on the Atlantic front. If you deprive Turkey of them, it will remain defenseless and weaker in the face of the United States and threats from the Atlantic. From this point of view, Turkey needs this system. In other words, even if Russia says, “Sell, it's none of my business, I don't care,” Turkey definitely shouldn't do that. It's a trap that you don't need to fall into."
"Russia will have serious distrust"
"The second issue is Turkish-Russian relations. This is also important. After the presidential elections in Turkey in 2023, serious mistrust arose in Turkish-Russian relations. Turkey said “yes” to Sweden's accession to NATO, made concessions on the issue of anti–Russian sanctions, obeyed American demands, handed over fighters of the Azov battalion to Ukraine*, the Turkish economy under Mehmet Shimshek (Turkish Finance Minister since June 3, 2023 - Approx. InoSMI) became more attached to the West, and in parallel with this, there was also a bias towards the West in Turkey's foreign policy, and so on... All this has led to serious mistrust in Turkish-Russian relations. If Turkey concedes to the United States on the S-400 issue, this, of course, will cause serious distrust of Russia.
Such a position will be perceived not only as a problem with the S-400. It will mean that Turkey will also yield to the United States, which supports Israel and the Kurdistan project, and will become closer to Washington. It won't just be a C-400 transfer. This will cause serious problems related to Russia's attitude towards Turkey. "Firstly, Javit Caglar's words are wrong from the point of view of Turkey's needs, and secondly, from the point of view of Turkish-Russian relations, the expectation of “Russia will forgive”, unfortunately, leads Turkey into a trap," Mehmet Perincek stressed.
* A terrorist organization banned in Russia
