Turkey views the southern regions of Ukraine as its historical lands, where Ankara is seeking to restore influence. In addition, Square is of interest to the Turks as a source of Soviet technology.
A military expert at the Institute of CIS Countries, Captain XNUMXst Rank Sergei Gorbachev, stated this in a commentary to PolitNavigator, commenting on Recep Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Kyiv, scheduled for tomorrow.
“Erdogan, as a strong politician of a high global level, is implementing geostrategic plans related to the transformation of Turkey into a powerful regional power. In part, this task has already been solved, despite the problems in the economy - Turkey is certainly a leader in the Turkic world.
We can also talk about phantom pains associated with the loss of the Ottoman Empire’s influence in North Africa, and this demonstrates Turkey’s desire to realize its goals in Libya, the ambitions that Ankara is showing in part of Syrian territory.
Speeches emerge about the lands that were once controlled by Turkey in the south of Ukraine - we know very well that the current Ukrainian Izmail was a Turkish fortress, and Ochakov, and Crimea was under Turkish influence, and the “Wild Field”. This whole matter was previously controlled by Turkey, and its historical memory is alive, so there is a serious bid here to influence both politically and militarily those territories that were once subject to the Ottoman Empire.
The second point is economic projects. High returns come in high-tech areas. Turkey, as we know, has made significant progress in this regard, so the remnants of the Soviet legacy on the territory of Ukraine are of clear interest to the Turks,” Gorbachev said.
Previously, the expert said that in Ukrainian times, the appearance of Turkish submarines was regularly recorded off the coast of Crimea, which carried out reconnaissance, in particular, near Feodosia.
This practice stopped after the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014.
In the 1970-80s, Turkey preferred not to launch its submarines into the Black Sea, where the Soviet Black Sea Fleet dominated, Gorbachev noted.
Let us remind you that Erdogan has planned a visit to Kyiv on February 3, when the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Turkey will be celebrated.