The west is very disturbed by the amelioration of problems with Russia

Actually, I heard our former PM Ahmet Davutoglu’s statement that he authorized shooting down a Russian plane near Syria in November 2015. However, we heard from minister Simsek that the pilots made an individual decision. Also, these pilots were arrested after the unsuccessful coup d’état. There is some kind of contradiction. I believe that pilots were motivated by a desire to destroy Russian-Turkish rapprochement.

What we have recently seen was a terrible event. We have seen that there are deep divisions within the army. This “imam” Fethullah Gulen, living in Pennsylvania, is responsible for the coup. His men were in the Air force, and the west is very disturbed by the amelioration of problems with Russia. They desperately want to completely destroy this relationship.

Ahmet Davutoglu is a proficient politician and takes responsibility for what he says. We should see how the Turkish government reacts to his statement. Until now we haven’t seen any official reaction in terms of denying Davutoglu’s statement. But we can see also that the pilots were actually motivated by something, not just a decision made in the moment.

This post-coup period has led to a reconciliation between government and the opposition. Everyone understood that the threat to democracy would negatively impact all of the constituent parts of society. President Erdogan is being proactive in extending dialog with opposition parties. After the cleansing of personnel who belong to the Gulen movement from the state, we will see all parties come together. Together they will develop some changes to the democratic constitution that we seriously need.

Now there is an information war against president Erdogan. Over last two weeks we see the misinterpretation of information, being floated from mass media outlets like “The Washington Post”, “Independent” etc. They are completely misinforming the western public about what is happening now in Turkey. This calls into the question of prestige of these newspapers. I am really disturbed about this.

The real situation is that government is cleaning out people from universities, schools, and other places, because the Gulen community had spread everywhere. They had been infiltrating since the early sixties and stealthily built educational institutions, media organizations, and other companies. It is understandable that the government would clean those people from the state apparatus. I tend to believe that the law will be closely observed. In previous decades we have seen the erosion of law in Turkey. A role of government is to keep certain institutions in line.

I agree that there must be some changes in the constitution. Especially with the aim that the army must be deprived of the right to initiate a coup. The army is very complex institution. There is great competition between generals, colonels, and officers. The latest coup was a disaster. The group of officers simply bombed the parliament. This is unacceptable. Their reasons are completely meaningless.

The next year is not going to be easy. But we will see that Turkey can keep its political system. It will not change to totalitarianism, because the parliament is strong and political parties are valuable institutions. Democratic institutions are really key functions in Turkey.

Actually, in foreign policy Turkey is disappointed both with the EU and US. The fight against terrorism is not supported and we had no serious response from the EU. Turkey is a geographically well-situated country.
Relations with Russia have really improved. I understand the feelings of Russians. Last year was disappointing. I expect Russia to change its attitude slowly. Turkey should be very attentive with the Russians.
In terms of security, everything in foreign policy must be carried out slowly. This is not easy. Turkey must be pragmatic and very serious. Our geopolitical position requires balancing and being thoughtful of our neighbors.