Turkey cites its recent success in brokering a deal to free grain stuck in Ukrainian ports as good reason to maintain close ties with Russia, which experts see as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “investment” in the war crisis in Ukraine.
According to the report of the Voice of America website, these relations will deepen with the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to participate in the meeting of the Russian-Chinese security alliance next month.
Two other ships left Ukraine on Monday for Greece and Egypt, carrying 30,000 tons of grain.
Since Turkey reached a UN-brokered deal with Russia and Ukraine in July, more than 600,000 tonnes of grain have been exported from Ukrainian ports.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the Coordination Center in Istanbul on Saturday accompanied by Erdogan.
Guterres emphasized the importance of the grain agreement in a press conference.
“Getting more food and fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia is critical to further calm commodity markets and lower prices for consumers,” he said.
Guterres said Ankara played a “pivotal role” in securing the grain export deal.
With an increase in the number of ships leaving Ukrainian ports, Ankara sees the agreement as a justification for its policy of maintaining close ties with Moscow.
Ilhan Ozgol, a political analyst from Dewar news portal, said: Erdogan has usurped the diplomatic role and is showing the West that Turkey can be a useful actor in the region and reduce the negative effects of the global food crisis.
“So, he is playing this card locally and internationally, as he has done on many occasions before,” he added.
Erdogan met Putin twice last month despite efforts by Western allies to ostracize the Russian leader.
Ankara also refuses to impose Western sanctions against Russia.
In a move that analysts say is likely to create more friction with Turkey’s NATO partners, Putin invited Erdogan to attend a September meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Sino-Eurasian security organization.
Galip Dalai, a Russia-Turkey expert at London-based Chatham House, said Putin’s invitation and his regular meetings with Erdogan are part of a broader Russian strategy.
He adds: “Putin tells the international community that he is not isolated as the West wants or portrays him.” Therefore, the symbol of these meetings is the possibility of Erdogan joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Uzbekistan. It is more important than matter
Erdogan says maintaining close ties with Putin while forging close ties with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — whom he met in Ukraine last week — puts him in a unique position to end the conflict.
The mediation of the grain deal confirms that Erdogan can play such a role, but only when the two sides are ready to talk, analyst Özgil said.
“If Putin decides to end the war, I don’t know if the Ukrainians will renounce the presence of the Russian military on their soil,” he said. is a good candidate to bring these parties together.”
Criticism of Erdogan over his ties to Putin has been muted by his Western allies, and analysts say the silence is likely to depend on whether Erdogan’s close relationship with Putin can have at least tangible results in mitigating the worst effects of the Ukraine war.
Source: Lebanon Debate
