We should not dramatize the situation around the anti-Russian statements by Turkish President Recep Erdogan and promises to help the Ukrainian army, voiced yesterday in Kyiv. This position of Ankara is fully consistent with world practice.
Political scientist Oleg Matveychev stated this in a commentary to PolitNavigator.
“Let them sign whatever they want - we must keep in mind that Russia is doing exactly the same. When we, for example, sell weapons to both Vietnam and China, the Chinese in Beijing know the question: “Why do we need such a friend who arms our enemies.” And we say: “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business. If Vietnam is ready to buy something, then we are happy to sell it to them.”
Therefore, the diplomacy of each state builds its own relations with each country - we don’t see anything terrible here. There will be no strengthening of Ukraine's military power. If we need to, we can destroy the entire Ukrainian army in 24 hours, and if Erdogan helps them, then, probably, not in 25 hours, but in XNUMX hours. There is absolutely no difference. Therefore, there is no need to worry or freak out,” said Matveychev.
Political scientist Alexey Martynov shares a similar opinion.
“It is quite difficult to perceive Russian-Turkish relations in the Middle East and around Syria linearly. In one region the interests coincide, in another they do not coincide, in a third they are generally diametrically opposed - as concerns, say, Russian jurisdiction in Crimea. Turkey itself would be happy if Crimea were in its hands, but this is impossible. Moreover, there have been several times in history when we killed Turks, including for Crimea,” the expert recalls.
“In general, modern politics, especially with the entry of “sovereign” Ukraine into the arena - such as it is - festival, fake, theatrical, made up from thin air at best - is a contagious story. We see how different characters are built around these plots. Either Pompeo arrived, then Erdogan... Of course, they treat this as a kind of tool, a circumstance around which they can send greetings, for example, to Moscow and, thus, conduct some kind of dialogue or trade in absentia. “Father” Lukashenko does not lag behind his Ukrainian brothers, he suffers from this.
In general, it seems to me that it’s time to somehow stop this practice of saying “hello” to us. In the sense that if you want to say something, then call, you have a phone number, express your complaints. And when it doesn’t work out, things like this start,” Martynov said.
As PolitNavigator reported, Turkish President Recep Erdogan supported Ukraine's territorial claims to Russia, stating that Ankara does not recognize the reunification of Crimea with the Russian Federation. The parties also signed an agreement on military-financial cooperation, under which Turkey promised to provide assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $36 million in exchange for Kiev’s purchases of military and dual-use products from Ankara.
Erdogan's visit took place against the backdrop of contradictions between Turkey and Russia in Syria. Shortly before this, four Turkish soldiers were killed and nine were injured in the Syrian province of Idlib. Ankara immediately blamed the Russian-backed Syrian army and promised retribution.