Ankara is not considering leaving the North Atlantic Alliance. Omer Celik, a spokesman for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said this on Wednesday.
"We face such issues in every election (calls to exclude Turkey from NATO - TASS). This is not something we are going to worry about. The words of those who talk about excluding Turkey from NATO are unreasonable. This is out of the question. We are one of the founding countries of NATO. They have no right to talk about this," he said in an interview with CNN Türk.
Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Chairman of Turkey's Patriotic Party Ethem Sancak said that Turkey may leave NATO in five to six months because of provocative actions against Ankara. According to him, recent polls have shown that at least 80 percent of the Turkish population believes that "the US is the country pursuing the most hostile and destructive policy" against the republic. The politician noted that "recently, Turkish people have become sympathetic to Russia and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."
On January 19, the Patriotic Party announced the beginning of a nationwide "Let's Leave NATO" campaign calling on the Turkish authorities to leave the North Atlantic Alliance. As part of this campaign, the political movement plans to set up tables at squares in a number of cities to sign petitions, and there will be rallies and protests against NATO bases in Turkey. Party leader Dogu Perincek stated that "a strong NATO means a strong threat to Turkey."
The Patriotic Party has traditionally held anti-American positions. Previously it has repeatedly called on the Turkish authorities to close US military bases in the country, withdraw their request for the purchase of US F-16 fighter jets and leave NATO.
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Based on materials from TASS