We conducted an interview with Deniz Tansı on the sanctions on Gazprombank. Türkiye’s position regarding the sanctions. Tansı, relating the topic in a broader context, shared his views why Türkiye “should not compel to the sanction policy of the US” drawing its possible implications on Türkiye and Syria’s territorial integrity.
Here’s what Tansı stated to UWI.
“Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Türkiye has pursued a policy of balance. Of course I have many criticisms to that policy, but our country has followed a line that did not demonize or antagonize Russia. But the recent actions of the government do not inspire optimism. The NATO Secretary General’s visit to Türkiye, the sudden show of generosity on F-16s, the raising of the F-35 issue, it’s all a trap. We shouldn’t fall for it. This is very important to note.
As in the Gazprombank issue, the US will demand that its allies do something to their own detriment. After all, Biden is a Cold War man, he is used to acting this way. But Türkiye didn’t participate in the sanctions on Russia, and thus ensured the safety of its people and industry. If Türkiye is forced to abide by these sanctions, it will suffer a great harm from that.
There will be a new administration in the White House very soon. My biggest concern here is that the Turkish side might make concessions to “get along with” the new administration. This would have implications on the Gazprombank issue, but not limited to that. It would also affect the region.
The territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and Iran means Türkiye’s territorial integrity. Any issue that can lead to the divisions of these countries is dangerous for Türkiye. I call it a “strategy of mutual survival”. This is something already put forward by Atatürk.
Maurice Duverger, one of the pioneers of modern political science, says based on this strategy: The history of social struggle in this world had two main sources. One is the social class struggle of the nineteenth century, the other is the national liberation struggle initiated by Atatürk.
I think Türkiye should not comply with these sanctions on the Gazprombank for the sake of “harmonizing relations” with the West.
But we are talking about this from an academic point of view. Türkiye has not broken away with the US, many people might have had that perception. Yes, there have been some controversies from time to time. That’s probably a topic for another conversation, but the federation issue in Cyprus could be brought up again and we see signs that it will be.
Why did I also refer to regional issues and the importance of territorial integrities of the countries in the region? Because Syria’s territorial integrity and Gazprom are linked. It’s similar to what we call correlation in statistics, a relationship between dependent variables. In other words, supporting sanctions on Gazprom means promoting policies that will harm Syria’s territorial integrity, which plays into the hands of the West.