Turkey ‘not obliged to US or any other’

Turkish parliament speaker on Dec. 22 said his country was not obliged to the U.S. or any other country due to the global politics evolving from a two-polar to a multi-polar one that offers many alternatives.

Mustafa Şentop commented on a variety of issues on Turkey's foreign agenda such as the sanction move by the U.S., ratification of Turkey-Libya military cooperation deal and rising xenophobia and racism in Europe.

Şentop told Anadolu Agency that the U.S. administration used sanctions as a threat element, especially since the election of President Donald Trump, but he did not believe that sanctions would have any significant effect on Turkey.

He underlined that sanctions and embargoes would not harm Turkey given that the country had alternatives and diversity especially in the defense industry.

He went on to argue that Turkey had already faced an unofficial sanction with the U.S. attempts to remove Turkish administration from the F-35 fighter jet program, adding Washington said it would not hand over the planes.

"Isn't this a sanction, embargo? Did we not see a similar case regarding drones and Patriot missiles?" he asked and noted that the previous negative attitude of the U.S. on Turkey led to Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missiles.

"As for the F-35s, Turkey evaluates alternatives, and is not confined to any other country including the U.S.," he asserted.

The parliament speaker underlined that Turkey was not in a two-polar world order of the 20th century, the country always had alternatives in today's multi-polar political environment across the world.

He said he thought the sanction and embargo plans would not adversely affect Turkey's economy and defense industry, but would harm the bilateral...