Asia

Home page

Asia

Ismet Yilmaz: Increasing Russia military presence in region causes more imbalance

15 February 2016 16:06 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Turbat Baghirova – APA. “More than a half of up to 20 areas of conflict worldwide are in the same region as Turkey,” Turkish National Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said at the Grant National Assembly, APA reported citing haberler.com.

“The Israeli-Palestinian problem that has been unsolved for more than half a century, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the Balkan crises, the mounting escalation between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, ISIL and other terrorist organizations operating in Iraq and Syria, the civil war in Yemen, North African countries which have not been able to restore stability since the Arab spring, the power vacuum in the Middle East, and other related threats are all should be taken into account when ensuring the country’s security,” he said.

Yilmaz also added that the Syrian crisis has brought about a change of circumstances in the Eastern Mediterranean and southern regions.

“Russia’s efforts to strengthening its fleet increase military presence in the region and since 2014 has caused further imbalance. These processes have necessitated the comprehensive planning of security in the region, including energy security,” said the Turkish defense minister.