ISTANBUL (Washington Insider Magazine) – Turkey is aiming to calm tensions between its NATO partners and Russia amid the Ukraine crisis, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set to meet with counterparts from both sides in the upcoming days.
Erdogan stated in a television interview on Wednesday night that Turkey was “ready to do whatever is necessary” to avert a war.
Erdogan meets with Putin frequently and speaks with him on the phone, and on Thursday, Moscow spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian president was willing to visit Turkey, though the precise timing would depend on scheduling and reservations about the coronavirus, according to Al Jazeera.
In the meantime, Erdogan is expected to visit Kyiv in February to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia has stationed approximately 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, prompting fears among NATO countries that Putin is contemplating an invasion, particularly in eastern Ukraine, which has a strong ethnic Russian population and where Moscow has previously attempted to establish influence.
Turkey has a stake in Ukraine’s defense sector, having sold the country Bayraktar TB2 drones in 2019, which Ukraine has launched and utilized to target pro-Russian troops in Donbas in previous months.
The use of Turkish drones elicited strong condemnation from Russia, with Putin telling Erdogan in a December phone call that Ankara was engaging in “provocative” and “destructive” operations
Simultaneously, Turkey is militarily involved in numerous confrontations with Russia. In Syria, Russia and Turkey conduct joint military operations and ceasefire accords in a complicated dance involving the US, Kurdish, Iranian and Syrian government forces.
Turkey is also economically dependent on Russia, with thousands of Russian visitors annually pouring in much-needed foreign currency, and Ankara relying significantly on Russian natural gas providers.
Turkey, with the alliance’s second-largest force, will be on the forefront of any protracted conflict with Russia.
While Erdogan is highly unlikely to sway NATO on Russia’s demands, such as blocking Ukraine from membership, Coşkun believes Erdogan can help start a discussion on what appears to be Putin’s greater concern: the unstable nature of the European defense alliance close to Russian territory.
Image via Aljazeera
