![Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin speaks during an exclusive interview in Ankara, Turkey on February 24, 2021 [Raşit Aydoğan/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Turkish-Presidential-Spokesperson-Ibrahim-Kalin_13.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Western countries have been putting considerable pressure on Ankara for a year and a half to impose sanctions on Russia but Ankara, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told Al-Khabar TV yesterday.
“They … demand sanctions, and ask why we are cooperating with the Russian Federation,” he added. “But we did not listen to anyone, and we celebrated … delivering the first fuel shipment to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been re-elected this week for a third term, stressed on 19 May that if he won the presidential elections he would maintain the same policy toward Russia and other countries that Turkiye has adopted under his rule.
In early April, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara does not support unilateral sanctions against Russia.
Western countries have imposed strict political and economic sanctions on Russia since the start of its military attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
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