Turkey-Russia rapprochement not against Europe: Germany

BERLIN (AA) – Germany does not view the rapprochement between Turkey and Russia as a move against Europe, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

“We can clearly see that this is not something directed against Europe,” German Foreign Ministry deputy spokeswoman Sawsan Chebli told a news conference in Berlin.

“Seeking rapprochement with Russia is not something that rules out the continuation of close cooperation with Europe. We need Turkey and Turkey needs us. We share many common interests on many political and economic issues,” she stressed.

Chebli noted that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had also made clear in a statement on Tuesday that Turkey did not seek, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s key visit to Russia, to send a message to its Western allies.

Erdogan met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in St. Petersburg, marking the first meeting between the two leaders since Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane last November.

Chebli underlined that it was important for Turkey and Russia to restore their dialogue at a time of extremely dangerous and complex challenges in the region.

The meeting between Erdogan and Putin, which came after the defeated July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, has been interpreted in several Western media outlets as a sign that Ankara was seeking a new alliance with Moscow, amid frustration with its Western allies.

Erdogan has sharply criticized Western countries recently for taking a hesitant approach against the coup attempt and failing to show strong solidarity with the Turkish people.

Putin was among the first world leaders to express support for the Turkish government in the wake of the defeated coup.

Ankara has repeatedly said the coup attempt had been organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Russia has also been skeptical of Gulenists’ activities, and closed the movement’s schools in the country believing they were CIA operations.

In Turkey, Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

The July 15 coup attempt left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Approximately 13,000 members of the military, police, and judiciary as well as civil servants have been detained and 6,000 remanded in custody since the failed putsch, and tens of thousands of suspected Gulenists removed from their posts.