Western media working to make Türkiye a ‘submissive partner’ – newspaper chief

US and European media outlets are backing the opposition for geopolitical reasons, Daily Sabah editor Mehmet Celik told RT

Western media outlets back Turkish opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu because politicians in the West seek to cripple the country’s independence and make it a “submissive partner of the West,” Daily Sabah editor Mehmet Celik told RT in an interview that aired on Sunday.

The runup to Sunday’s presidential election in Türkiye was marked by a slew of Western newspaper editorials and magazine covers calling for the defeat of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The covers of The Economist, Der Spiegel, and Le Point magazines all depicted the incumbent in a negative light over the last week, with The Economist’s cover featuring the slogans “Erdogan must go” and “save democracy.” 

“Western criticism is something that has been ongoing for the past decade or so,” Celik told RT. “The only difference with these elections is that they have been literally endorsing and very clearly supporting the opposition.”

This anti-Erdogan stance “has a lot to do with the fact that Türkiye now stands on its own two feet and makes its own decisions based on the interests of its own citizens, rather than being a mere submissive partner of the West,” he continued.

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Under Erdogan, Türkiye has “diversified” its foreign policy, Celik explained. Although Türkiye is a member of NATO, Ankara has broken with the rest of the bloc by refusing to sanction Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine and increasing its energy and trade links with Russia over the last year, all while positioning itself as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev.

Erdogan has also attended a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and according to media reports, is eyeing membership in the Beijing-led economic bloc.

“The world system is shifting,” Turkish MP and Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee chief Akif Cagatay Kilic told RT on Saturday. “There are certain areas where you have to act alone, where you have to act with allies, and where you have to act with different countries, neighboring countries.”

“We are not shifting,” he added. “The first responsibility we have is toward our people, toward our country. We are trying to protect our own interests.”

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If elected, Kilicdaroglu has promised to immediately restart accession talks with the EU and to implement a number of reforms demanded by Brussels – most notably limiting the powers of his own office. While Kilicdaroglu has said he would maintain economic ties with Russia, he has also promised closer relations with his NATO allies, and Celik told RT that some of his political allies have stated that “there will be sanctions applied” to Moscow.

Pre-election polls showed Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu within single digits of each other, with most suggesting that a runoff election – triggered when no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote – is highly likely. Some 600 parliamentary seats are also up for grabs on Sunday, and most polls show Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party losing its majority.