Turkish President Erdogan not planning to break ties with Putin or Zelenskyy: Report

In the latest development, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, 19 May, announced that he does not plan to break his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin or Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Erdogan made the statement at a meeting with students at the presidential library in Ankara. In his remarks, Erdogan said that he had also sent his official representative Ibrahim Kalyn for holding talks with Russian and Ukrainian partners, TASS reported. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan underscored that they will continue to make efforts as launching a new world war will not benefit Turkey or the world. He highlighted that Turkey has different ties with Russia and Ukraine and they are working with Russia on nuclear energy. He said that they will complete the development and commissioning of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in 2022 and called it a "very serious source of energy" for Turkey. He stressed that they get 50% of the total consumption of gas from Russia and they cannot "break strategic relations," Sputnik reported. The statement of Erdogan about ties with Russia and Ukraine comes as the war between the two nations entered its 12th week. 

Turkish President accuses Sweden & Finland of hosting terrorist centres 

Speaking to the students at the presidential library in Ankara, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country intends to block Sweden and Finland's application to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if Ankara's security concerns are not addressed, as per the Sputnik report. Erdogan stated that it is necessary to review the NATO issue as Sweden and Finland host terrorist centres in their countries. He pointed out the presence of the PKK and the YPG and militia groups in the Nordic nations, which Turkey views as "terrorist organisations." He accused Sweden and Finland of supporting terrorism in Turkey and helping them with financial and arms assistance. Meanwhile, Sweden and Finland have officially applied for membership in NATO on May 18. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the requests of Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance and underscored that the security interests of all allies need to be "taken into account." He stressed that they will work to address all the issues and "reach a rapid conclusion." Notably, Finland and Sweden require the support of all 30 NATO members to join the military alliance. 

Image: AP