The National Interests - August 4, 2017
A week after a friendly naval visit to Istanbul from the Chinese navy, Turkey and China are continuing to cozy up, bonding over press censorship and promises of deepened security ties. Reuters:
Turkey regards China’s security as akin to its own and will move to stamp out any anti-China reports in its media, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, after meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. […]On one level, this is just the latest case of Turkey thumbing its nose at the West. No other NATO ally would equate its security interests with China’s, and no other supposed EU aspirant would openly tout its authoritarian control over the press. But for Turkey, this is all part of the game: as an alienated Ankara drifts ever further away from Europe, it continues to publicly demonstrate that it is not beholden to Western institutions or values, as Erdogan courts opportunistic allies and participates in military exercises with NATO’s enemies.
“We take China’s security as our security,” Cavusoglu said, speaking through a Chinese translator during a joint news briefing with Wang in Beijing.
“We absolutely will not allow in Turkey any activities targeting or opposing China. Additionally, we will take measures to eliminate any media reports targeting China,” he added, but did not give details.
READ MORE....
