Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.13
By Jamila Jafarova - Trend:
Not being a member of the EU, Turkey does not, legally speaking, have to follow the EU sanctions against Russia, Sinan Ulgen, the chairman of Turkish Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) told Trend on Feb.13.
The expert said that Turkey would follow the UN sanctions against Russia, if any were adopted, but not that of the EU or the US.
He said in principle, Turkey doesn't follow the EU or US sanctions against Russia, adding that it is Ankara's official position.
Ulgen believes that Brussels will criticize Turkey for this position, but cannot force Ankara to adopt the same sanctions regime as that of Europe.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara is not going to join the sanctions against Russia, despite the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
The minister said Russian is an important trade partner for Turkey and the country will not join the anti-Russian sanctions.
The relations between Russia and the West deteriorated due to the situation in Ukraine. The EU and US switched from the sanctions against certain individuals and companies to taking measures against entire sectors of Russian economy in late July 2014. In response, Russia limited food imports from the countries which imposed sanctions against it: the US, EU member states, Canada, Australia and Norway.
Edited by CN