Solana: Turkey can't reject opportunity to reconcile with Russia

Former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana, who headed the alliance from 1995 to 1999, expressed the view that Ankara cannot give up the opportunity to reconcile with Russia in the future.

According to him, for the European Union, which started rapprochement with Ankara because of the refugee crisis, the fight against the Daesh terrorist organization remains the top priority.

Solana also drew attention to the fact that, after the terrorist attacks in Paris, attempts to strengthen the engagement of countries in the fight against terrorism, including between France and Russia, became more active. "If Ankara wants its relations with Brussels to improve, it will have to join," he said, adding that Turkey, because of its proximity to Syria, could play a particularly important role in the formation of the peace process in the region, if it were not for the sharp deterioration in relations with Russia that occurred after the incident with the downed Russian warplane.

According to the former NATO Secretary General, strained relations with Moscow have not only led to economic sanctions being imposed by Russia, but have also damaged the position of Turkey in Syria. "Russia has equipped its aircraft which are involved in the region with missiles of 'air-to-air' class that can weaken the influence of Ankara on the north-eastern border of Syria," he explained.

At the same time, Solana describes the current state of affairs as "a tangle", which Turkey is able to get out of if it will adhere to the "strategic approach" – in particular, acknowledging the need to stabilize the situation in Syria, and once and for all clarifying its role in the fight against Daesh.

According to the former Secretary General of NATO, Turkey has recently successfully demonstrated its ability to overcome major crises and, given this, Ankara can't give up the opportunity to reconcile with Russia. "This approach will undoubtedly facilitate the management of multiple risks, which have strengthened against the background of the Syrian conflict," Solana concluded.