Ankara to keep strategic ties with Moscow with regardless of election winner

MOSCOW - Turkey will keep strategic relations with Russia regardless of the outcome of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, since Moscow is an important partner for Ankara in a number of areas, the leader of the Turkish Innovation Party, Ozturk Yilmaz, told Sputnik.

"Regarding the relations with Russia I don’t think that any dramatic changes will take place. Russia is our strategic partner in many aspects. So whoever comes to power, they can’t ignore such reality," Yilmaz said.

At the same time, the opposition politician added that Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is considered incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main opponent, is giving "a lot of promises" to the West, as he seeks closer cooperation with Western countries.

"He (Kilicdaroglu) is acting as if he is making distance from Russia, but more close relations with West. He is not himself doing that, but people around him give these ideas to him," Yilmaz stated.

Turkey's presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place on May 14. Along with Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu, who has been put forward by a six-party opposition alliance, the list of presidential candidates also includes Sinan Ogan of the ATA Alliance. Results of pre-election polls have not yet revealed a clear favourite in the upcoming election. The second round of the election, which will take place if no candidate gains 50 per cent of votes, is scheduled for May 28.

The Innovation Party is a Turkish opposition centrist party founded by Yilmaz in 2020 after he was expelled from Kilicdaroglu's Republican People's Party over internal conflicts. - BERNAMA-SPUTNIK