Levent Kenez/Stockholm
Turkish lawmakers who are members of the parliamentary friendship group with Ukraine have not made any statements condemning the invasion or supporting Ukraine since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Ironically, one member of the group has even stated that the demands of the people of the disputed regions of Luhansk and Donetsk are legitimate.
The deputies, who last met with their Ukrainian counterparts in Ankara in January, had expressed strong support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The group consists of 10 MPs, six of whom are members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), one from government ally the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and three deputies from three opposition parties.
Tuğrul Türkeş, the chairman of the group, is the son of the late Alparslan Türkeş, a former military officer and politician and who is still considered the of Turkish nationalists’ most powerful ideologue.
In addition to his chairmanship, Türkeş has another connection with Ukraine in that he was recently married to a Ukrainian citizen.
However, Türkeş has not yet made an official statement as chairman of the friendship group since the Russian invasion began. He has also not spoken on the subject in parliament as there are no posts on his social media accounts about the invasion.
Tuğrul Türkeş’s last post about Ukraine concerned Vasyl Bodnar, the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, visiting the friendship group in parliament and providing information on the latest developments on February 16.
A Nordic Monitor study shows that none of the Turkish members of the friendship group have shared anything on social media about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, although one member. Murat Çepni, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Çepni made a speech in parliament blaming both Russia and NATO for the situation in Ukraine
“The Ukraine war is a war for sharing the spoils of the occupying imperialists. The US, NATO and Russia are on the stage in all their hypocrisy. They are out of step when it comes to the Kurds in Turkey, the Kurds in Syria and Ukraine,” Çepni, representing İzmir in parliament, told his colleagues. Çepni called on NATO to abandon the US export of war to the world while condemning Russia’s policy of occupation and expansion and Turkey’s policy of turning tensions into opportunities.
“The right of nations to self-determination is as valid today as it was yesterday. The demands of the people of Donetsk and Luhansk are legitimate,” Çepni added.
Ambassador Bodnar, in a statement immediately after the invasion, said he expected the Turkish members of the Turkey-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group to express their support for Ukraine. However, it seems that Bodnar’s wish has not yet been fulfilled.
The deputies from the ruling party in particular are believed to be afraid of expressing their own views because of the possibility of being rebuked by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has taken a cautious approach in order to not anger Russia but to try to show that Turkey is still with the West.
Ukrainian members of the group last visited Turkey January 11-13, 2022 and met with their Turkish counterparts in a congenial meeting in parliament.
One of the group members, Prof. Dr. Kamil Aydın, told the visiting delegation that “we are aware of the problems in Ukraine. We stand behind every decision in favor of Ukraine.”
AKP deputy Serap Yaşar said: “Your just cause is our cause. We are ready to cooperate with you on every issue.”
Ahmet Yıldız, the president of the Turkish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) who attended the meeting to show his support, added that “we have already established good cooperation between the two delegations in the European Council. We supported all the right decisions of Ukraine. I attended the founding meeting of the Crimean Platform to show our solidarity. I also attended the Warsaw security meeting. We, too, follow the threat in Ukraine due to Russia’s military buildup. I am also a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. We support the rightful demands of Ukraine in both organizations. Russia’s behavior is unacceptable.”
The delegation was also received by Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, who reaffirmed parliament’s full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political sovereignty.
The delegation later visited Baykar, the manufacturer of drones that Turkey sells to Ukraine. They received information about the drones specially produced for Ukraine from Haluk Bayraktar, one of the owners of the company, who runs Baykar’s Ukrainian operations and is the elder brother of Erdoğan’s son-in-law, Selçuk Bayraktar.
