Turkey warns against action if Western consulate closures continue

ANKARA

Turkey’s president on Sunday condemned the temporary closure of Western consulates in Istanbul, warning against action if missions continue to remain closed.

“Recently, our Foreign Ministry summoned them and gave them an ultimatum. He said that if they continue such actions, they will pay a heavy price,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting with young people. in the province of Aydin, in the west of the country.

Erdogan’s remarks came after Türkiye summoned ambassadors from Western countries, including the United States, to criticize their decision to temporarily close diplomatic missions on the pretext of security threats.

“We have a cabinet meeting on Monday and we will take the necessary decisions regarding this decision,” the Turkish leader said.

The ambassadors of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom were also summoned to the Foreign Ministry, according to Turkish diplomatic sources, and told said such simultaneous acts did not show a proportionate and prudent approach. , but rather serve “the insidious agenda of terrorist groups”.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the move “deliberate” and said the countries involved do not share concrete information or documents with Ankara.

Global food crisis

Regarding the global food crisis after the war in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain export agreement negotiated by Türkiye, he said: “In world politics, nobody talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin right now. But I am in talks with President Putin. , as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”

Last July, Turkey, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were halted after the war that began in February 2022 .

“We get the grain from the Black Sea and distribute it to the world,” Erdogan said, adding, “Putin said ‘let’s send this grain for free, you turn this grain into flour and send it to poor African countries'”.

“We have agreed that the grain will be shipped to Turkey for free. We will process it into flour and send it to poor countries in Africa. We are there now,” he said. “Of course it bothers some people. But no matter what, we’ll do what it takes.”

Next elections

Stressing the importance of the upcoming elections in Turkey, Erdogan said: “Everyone, including the international media, writes about how important the elections are for our country, the nation and world politics.”

Criticizing world powers for making efforts to influence the vote, due on May 14, in a way that suits them, Erdogan said: “That’s why despicable campaigns are launched against me. That’s the purpose of the acts of burning our holy book Quran, which is supported under the guise of freedom of speech.”

A perception of insecurity is being created, the aim of which is to target our tourism sector, he said.

Rasmus Paludan, an extremist Swedish-Danish politician, burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21, with police protection and permission from Swedish authorities.

The following week he burned a copy of Islam’s holy book outside a mosque in Denmark and said he would repeat the act every Friday until Sweden was included in NATO.

Sweden’s entry into the military alliance must be ratified by Ankara. Türkiye opposes Sweden’s candidacy for NATO for its support of the terrorist PKK and the terrorist organization Fetullah Gulen.

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