Erdogan: We trust Russia and cooperate with it

WORLD, Sept. 19 (YPA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara is not obliged to follow the European Union in sanctions against Russia.

Erdogan added in an interview with PBS: Are we supposed to do what the E.U. members are doing?  Turkey has a different position in the world. And the EU member states have their different positions. Russia happens to be one of my closest neighbors. And we have a common history.

He continued: “We have launched the grain corridor. Altogether, 33 million tons of grain were exported to the rest of the world using the Black Sea. And we didn’t do this just because the E.U. asked us to do so. It was a humanitarian obligation that we assumed.”

Erdogan added, “I have no reason not to trust them. Half of my natural gas supplies are coming from Russia, which means we have solidarity. We are taking mutual steps forward, and we are cooperating in the field of defense industry as well. We can do these things with Russia.”

E.M