Russian military provocations in Turkey push Ankara back towards West - expert

Russian military provocations in Turkey push Ankara back towards West - expert

Ukrinform
The incident, during which the Russian military aircraft was shot down over Turkey, will push Ankara back towards the West which is good news.

This opinion was expressed by Senior Policy Analyst of The European Policy Centre (EPC) Amanda Paul in exclusive comments to an Ukrinform correspondent in Brussels.

"Turkey-Russia ties are very much about interdependent economic cooperation, particularly in the field of energy, and these will probably continue more or less the same. At the same time this incident is likely to push Turkey back towards the West which is good news," the expert believes.

She recalled that earlier Russia had violated Turkish airspace (almost certainly on purpose) and the Turkish authorities had warned Russia that if it continued to act in such a callous manner it would react because it had an absolute right to protect its airspace and territorial integrity.

"Russia claims that it never entered Turkish airspace and that they received no communication attempts from the Turkish authorities. In my opinion, the Turkish armed forces are highly professional and a responsible member of NATO. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that Russia is no stranger to telling lies about its military activities, most recently in Ukraine. And according to Russia’s leadership its military have been nowhere near Donbas which is also a lie," Paul commented on Moscow statement that the downed Russian aircraft did not violate the airspace of Turkey.

According to the expert, it is clear that there will be a heightening of tensions between Turkey and Russia.

"Russia is now preparing a package of measures to respond," she said. 

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