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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke to Judy Woodruff from the US news programme PBS and answered questions regarding the war in Ukraine, Turkish policies around Sweden and Finland, and the 2023 elections in Turkey.
Woodruff began by asking questions about Russian attacks on Ukraine and asked Erdoğan about Turkey’s stance on the war.
She pointed out that Turkey has indicated support for both sides in the war, and asked whether Turkey felt Russia should be permitted to keep some of the territory it has taken from Ukraine since the invasion in February.
Answering “No, and undoubtedly no”, Erdoğan said, “Putin has taken certain steps. We have taken certain steps. The lands which were invaded will be returned to Ukraine”.
He also said that Turkey has been asking Putin to return Crimea to its rightful owners since 2014.
Woodruff asked him whether the invasion of Ukraine was justified by the Russians.
“Well, no invasion can be justified. An invasion cannot be justified,” replied Erdoğan, in a seeming display of neutrality.
The reporter however did not then ask any questions regarding Turkey’s own occupation of northern Syria and Iraq Kurdistan regions despite the UN Security Council having been convened for Turkey’s own violations of the sovereignty of Syria and Iraq.
Turkey has caused numerous civilian deaths in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria with military incursions into the region since 2016, and currently occupies parts of north and east Syria such as Afrin and Serekaniye, either directly or through proxy jihadist groups it supports.
Turkey continues it’s military operations in north and eastern Syria and was also condemned by the UN for the deaths of civilians in Zakho earlier this year.
Throughout the conversation, Erdoğan continued to stress that Turkey could not take sides and that it would not be right for them to do so.
However, he also referred to his friendship with Putin and at one point said:
“It’s not right to observe Putin as an entirely different person because he is prioritising the interests of his country and he is fighting for his own interests, for his country’s interests.”
Woodruff also asked him about Turkey’s blocking of the admission to NATO of Sweden and Finland.
Erdoğan drew a difference between the two countries, calling Sweden a “cradle for terrorism”, while saying that Finland was calmer and had better control.
When Woodruff asked Erdoğan whether results of the 2023 elections in Turkey could be contested, the Turkish president said contesting results was a “common thing”.
“These things happen all the time,” Erdoğan said.
After the interview, the Turkish president went on to give a speech at the UN General Assembly.
In his speech, Erdoğan announced that Turkish companies had completed a significant portion of some 100,000 houses they had started building in several cities in northern Syria, where Turkish forces remain in control.
With an additional 200,000 houses to be built, Erdoğan said Ankara was preparing for approximately one million Syrians, out of the 3.5 million currently officially residing in Turkey, to return to their country.
The resettlement plan has been in the works for a long time, but its implementation has picked up speed as the presence of Syrian refugees in the country, compounded with waves of migration from Afghanistan and Pakistan, has cost Erdoğan and his government a significant chunk of its voter base. The plan would place Syrian Arabs on lands historically inhabited by Syrian Kurds, effectively changing the demographic makeup of the area immediately across from Turkey’s border with Syria.
Erdoğan also spoke of Turkish forces’ efforts to “make peace and stability prevail” in Iraq. The Turkish army has been engaged in cross-border operations in the neighbouring country’s Kurdistan region since April, and has been accused of causing civilian casualties, including the death of nine civilians in a Zakho holiday resort.
