Erdogan's anti-Russian demarche on the eve of his meeting with Putin: What was that?
Recep Erdogan from the UN rostrum declared non-recognition of the reunification of Crimea with Russia. Why did the Turkish president take a demonstrative anti-Russian step on the eve of a meeting with Vladimir Putin, which is due to take place the other day in Sochi?
PolitNavigator asked experts about this.
According to political scientist Sergei Markov, the agenda for the meeting between Putin and Erdogan is extensive - they will touch on the purchase of Russian weapons (it is known that Ankara wants to receive a second regiment of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems), and the creation of a railway corridor for direct communication between Russia and Turkey through disputed Armenian-Azerbaijani territories.
“We must understand that Turkey is a difficult partner, but it is our partner nonetheless. Presidents have a very broad agenda. The number one issue that will be discussed is Afghanistan. Both Türkiye and Russia influence there. Interests need to be reconciled.
The second topic is Syria. The Americans will leave Syria, where they controlled part of the Arab oil and gas territories (in the north) and the Kurds. The fate of the Kurds will be discussed.
The issue of Idlib will also be discussed. There, on the one hand, serious steps were taken by the Turkish leadership when they reduced the radicals there, but not completely. Plus, Idlib is not integrated into Syria in any way; it needs to be integrated somehow. Plus, the political dialogue process on Syria needs to be resumed in full,” Markov said.
As for Erdogan’s recent statements about Crimea, they were made, according to Markov, because Turkey has big plans for Ukraine and is trying to please it:
“Here we need to understand what Erdogan’s pragmatic interest is. He wants, by taking a tough position towards Russia, to ensure that - now a large privatization of Ukrainian black soils is beginning, so that most of them will be captured by Turkish agricultural corporations. Everyone knows Turkish agriculture - it is very large, large, there are powerful companies there. They, of course, would very much like to seize Ukrainian black soils. Erdogan is making very serious steps - we can talk about tens of billions of profits for many years to come. So it’s a very rational choice on his part.”
Political scientist Alexey Martynov adds that Russia should not wait for Turkey to recognize Crimea before, for example, its closest ally, Belarus.
“Turkey is an important country, and in any case it cannot be ignored. Including Russia. Russia will not fight with Turkey either; no one needs that. Well, they’ll limit themselves to mutual statements and that’s it. What new did Erdogan say for you personally and for the whole world? He didn't say anything new. Even from our closest ally in integration projects, from Belarus, from Lukashenko, no one is demanding recognition of Crimea,” Martynov noted.
According to orientalist Semyon Bagdasarov, the Turkish President needs the topic of Crimea in order to put pressure on Russia and achieve preferences in Syria:
“Erdogan is putting pressure on our president because the Turks have now deployed a large contingent of their troops to Syria and are claiming control over a significant part of northern Syria. Appetites are growing. How can you put pressure on the Russian leadership? This is Crimea. So they put pressure. Erdogan has become insolent - we are giving way everywhere: in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Ukraine, Syria, Libya. So Erdogan is taking advantage of our weakness.”
Erdogan's anti- Russian demarche ahead of meeting with Putin: What was that?