Turkey’s nationalist party leader urges Russia to ‘stop the invasion immediately’

* Photo: Evrim Aydın - Ankara / AA

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Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli talked about the Russia-Ukraine war at his weekly group meeting today (March 3). Saying that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "unjust", Devlet Bahçeli addressed Russia and made a call for a ceasefire.

"On February 24, Russia launched an unjust and unlawful operation of invasion against its neighbor, Ukraine," recalled Bahçeli, indicating that "this operation is against the international law, the independent political existence of Ukraine and the Minsk process."

Referring to the "iron curtain dividing Europe for 45 years" as the "symbol of the Cold War", Bahçeli said that "the invasion of Ukraine has now stood out as one of the serious crises in the post-Cold War period."

Criticizing the United Nations (UN) as well, the MHP Chair argued that "the UN did nothing other than releasing weak and weary condemning messages in the face of the unlawful and illegitimate operation."

'Attempted secession of Donbas is separatism'

Further in his speech, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli accused Russia's President Vladimir Putin of "trying to justify the bloody invasion by making history bear false witness." Referring to his arguments in reference to history, Bahçeli said that it was wrong for Putin to say that "Donbas was a part of Russia and they (Russia) protected the coasts of Ukraine from Ottomans."

MHP Chair Bahçeli said that "the attempt to take Donbas away from Ukraine is separatism". Criticizing Putin further for his "nuclear threat", Bahçeli commented, "The unease felt by Putin in the face of NATO's strategy to expand to the east is not a secret. It is very new that he says they had to invade Ukraine as he was at odds with his interlocutors within this scope."

'Why Ukraine consoled with empty promises?'

Bahçeli said, "At the NATO Summit in 2008, the decision to let Ukraine join the NATO was kept in suspense, which did nothing other than escalating the polarization and tension in the Caucasus further."

He asked, "If Ukraine was not to be admitted to NATO, why was it consoled with empty promises? Wasn't it Russia on the one hand and the Western countries on the other that pushed Ukraine to the fire pit?"

5 recommendations

Against this background, MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli offered five recommendations to resolve the ongoing tension and conflicts in the region:

"The political and territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty rights must be respected. An immediate ceasefire must be declared between Russia and Ukraine. Russia must stop the invasion immediately and without any preconditions and withdraw its military units.

"NATO must review its strategy to expand to the east and abandon its pursuit of keeping the member states together by creating unreal fears. The only option to resolve the crisis is diplomacy and dialogue." (AS/SD)