President Erdogan: ‘We will not allow terrorist organizations in NATO’

Turkish President Recep Erdogan emphasized today that his country does not want Sweden and Finland to join NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Erdogan also announced that he does not intend to give up his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to the attacks in both Ukrainian and Russian cities due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is entering its 85th day.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, Erdogan said, “We told our friends that we would say no to Finland and Sweden joining NATO. We will continue to follow up. We will not allow terrorist organizations to be a part of NATO.”

The Turkish government accuses Finland, and Sweden in particular, of being a haven for “terrorists”, referring to members of the guerrilla PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), both operating in Turkey and recognized as terrorists by the United States and the European Union. “These countries are home to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.”

Yesterday, Finns and Swedes applied to join NATO, a move stemming from Putin’s invasion of Ukrainian territory. Finland and Sweden’s decision to apply for a military alliance and abandoning a historical neutrality in the region led to reactions from Russia showing that there might be “answers”.

In order for the two countries to become members of NATO, all members must agree. Turkey has shown itself to be the biggest obstacle to its realization. “We are determined on this for now. [ser contra a entrada dos dois países]. This is especially true for Sweden, they are the center of terror, the strong focus of terror.” Today, the rulers of Sweden and Finland will be welcomed by US President Joe Biden.

Erdogan also said today that he does not want to cut ties with Putin. “We follow a balanced policy in relations with Russia and Ukraine. I have no intention of breaking relations with Putin or Zelensky.” The Turkish president said he intends to “continue to conduct telephone diplomacy with Putin and Zelensky” on the situation in Ukraine.

death near the border

At least one person was killed in an attack on the Russian city of Tetkino in the Kursk region, close to the Ukrainian border. According to Kursk governor Roman Starovoit, the victim was a truck driver transporting cargo to a factory at the time of the attack. Starovoit said another driver was also injured. Houses in the area were also affected.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense did not mention the attacks on Kursk in its report today, but said that “Russian enemy troops continue to equip additional firing positions and defensive structures in the border areas of the Bryansk and Kursk regions.”

At least four people were killed in an attack that took place in a residential area in Sievierodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine’s Lugansk region. According to Lugansk governor Sergey Gaidai, a woman lost her hand in Lysychansk after the attack.

In a report, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Russian forces “exposed civilians to extrajudicial killings, torture and other serious violations that are blatant war crimes” between February and March in northern Ukraine’s Kyiv and Chernihiv. period of Russian occupation.

The organization also said in the document presented yesterday that “21 civilians have described the illegal detention in inhuman and degrading conditions.” “These abuses against civilians are blatant war crimes that must be promptly and impartially investigated and properly prosecuted,” said HRW director Giorgi Gogia.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said today that another 771 Ukrainian fighters surrendered at the Azovstal complex in Mariupol. In total, 1,730 people surrendered to Russian forces. Azovstal was the last point of resistance in the port city of Ukraine in the southeast of the country.

“The Rifle In My Head”

Torture cases were mentioned in the HRW report. Russian soldiers reportedly beat detainees and gave electric shocks or mock executions to force them to give information. “They put a rifle to my head, loaded it, and I heard three shots,” said one blindfolded man. “I could also hear shell casings falling to the ground, and I thought this was for me.”

According to the NGO, “Civilians described being held by Russian forces for days or weeks in filthy, suffocating conditions, such as a school basement, a room in a window factory, and a well in a boiler room, with little or no food, insufficient water and no access to toilets,” according to the NGO. Some people even stayed in these conditions for 28 days.

In Dymer, about 45 kilometers north of Kiev, dozens of people were stranded in “a 40-square-foot room in the city’s window factory” with little food and water and buckets used as toilets.

In the report, HRW also referred to the case of a mother who, after recognizing your sneakers, found her son’s body in a barn about 100 meters from her home after Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv area on March 31. On March 19, soldiers detained the 45-year-old man after they found his old military jacket. The NGO also said it has recorded at least nine cases where “Russian forces shot and killed civilians without military justification”.

HRW recalled that “the laws of war prohibit attacks on civilians, extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, unlawful detention and inhumane treatment of detainees.” “Force commanders who know or have reason to know of such crimes, but fail to attempt to stop them or punish those responsible, are criminally liable.”

bombings

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that Russian forces launched an attack on the northern areas of Chernihiv and Sumy in the northeast.

In Kharkiv, where Ukraine’s second largest city of the same name is located, the country’s defense said Russia was trying to “restore lost positions”. On Monday 16, Ukrainian forces managed to advance in some areas in the region occupied by Russian forces.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it launched more attacks on Ukraine’s military infrastructure, killing at least 320 of the country’s military personnel. Ukraine said it killed 200 Russian soldiers between yesterday and today.

Russian asks for forgiveness

The first Russian soldier to be tried for war crimes in Ukraine, detailing how he killed a civilian at the start of the Russian invasion, today sought “amnesty” in a Kyiv court. “I know you can’t forgive me, but I still ask for your forgiveness,” 21-year-old Vadim Shishimarin told the wife of a 62-year-old civilian, whom he confessed to killing on February 28.

Zelensky mocked the new Russian gun

In his video speech last night, Zelensky said he was trying to find Russia’s “wonderful weapon.” “There was a term in Nazi Germany’s propaganda called the “wunderwaffe,” the great weapon. As it became clear that they had no chance in battle, more and more propaganda was made about the great weapon that was powerful enough to provide a turning point in the war.”

According to Zelensky, Russia’s announcement of using a new generation of laser weapons in Ukraine “clearly shows that the invasion has completely failed.” “As the Ukrainian Armed Forces and all our defenders liberate our lands step by step, they will come with more ‘wunderwaffe’.”

nuclear center

Russia plans to cut off Ukraine from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe occupied by the Russian military. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Jusnulin said that this will not happen if the Ukrainian government pays Moscow for the electricity it produces.

“Shortcut” to EU

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today that he is not in favor of giving Ukraine a “shortcut” to EU (European Union) membership that “is not a matter of months or years”. “The absence of a shortcut on the path to membership is an equality imperative for the six Western Balkan countries that have long wanted to join the European bloc,” he said. said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today received second-tier treatment by “some European capitals” on Ukraine’s EU candidacy. “The strategic uncertainty about Ukraine’s European perspective implemented by some EU capitals in recent years has failed. And it should end,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

(with EFE and AFP)