ANKARA, May 12 (Reuters) - Turkish presidential
candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu said gains in Turkish assets on
Thursday indicated markets believe his alliance will win on
Sunday, after polls gave him a narrow lead over incumbent
President Tayyip Erdogan.
In an interview with Reuters, Kilicdaroglu said gains in
Turkish assets indicated trust in his alliance's "rational
economic policies".
On Thursday, Turkey's main stock index jumped, while credit
default swaps dropped.
Stressing that Turkey has close economic links with Russia,
Kilicdaroglu signalled that he would pursue a fine balance in
foreign policy over relations with Moscow.
"We want to maintain our relations, we don't want to break
our friendly relations but we will not allow interference in our
internal matters," he said.
Kilicdaroglu also said he would push for another peace
initiative between Russia and Ukraine once he wins the Sunday
vote.
"It is very important for us, and for the whole world, if we
succeed to reach a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
But we should make it clear that we do not find it right for any
country to occupy another country," he said.
When asked whether he would support NATO enlargement if he
is elected as Turkish President, he said "Of course," without
elaborating.
"NATO is not only solely a military organisation in 21st
century, it is also an organisation that defends democracy. We
will maintain our relations with NATO within the same framework
as we had in the past," Kilicdaroglu also said.
Kilicdaroglu said a fundamental problem of Turkey's foreign
policy in Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) era was the exclusion of
foreign ministry in the policy making process.
"We would pursue a peace-oriented foreign policy that
prioritises Turkey's national interest. Our priority our
national interests and to act in line with the modern world,"
Kilicdaroglu added.
(Reporting by Orhan Coskun, Huseyin Hayatsever and Ece
Toksabay; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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