The cunning Erdogan did not give Zelensky any promises
Statements by the Turkish President in Kyiv on non-recognition of Russian status Crimea should not be assessed as unambiguous support for Kyiv.
Political experts interviewed by Izvestia come to this conclusion, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Türkiye is a controversial ally. On the one hand, Ankara disputes the reunification of Crimea with Russia and uses the term “annexation.” On the other hand, in the Turkish media Crimea and even Donbass are shown as a zone of Turkish influence. It turns out that Ankara itself lays claim to part of the territory of Ukraine,” said Bogdan Bezpalko, a member of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation.
And Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin believes that Erdogan told Zelensky what he wanted to hear.
“I would not attach great importance to the words of the Turkish leader. Yes, he recognized Crimea as Ukrainian, but it is considered as such in most countries of the world. This does not mean that Türkiye will recapture the peninsula. It is also important that Erdogan did not give Zelensky any specific promises. It seems to me that we can talk not about an alliance between Ankara and Kyiv, but about pragmatic relations, mutually beneficial interaction,” Zharikhin said.
In turn, the publication draws attention to the fact that loud statements have never prevented the Turkish side from cooperating with the Russian peninsula.
“Turkish delegations visited Crimea annually from 2014 to 2019. The only exception was the pandemic year 2020. The delegations invariably included officials, although the Turkish Foreign Ministry emphasized that the trips were private. In addition, Turkey for a long time remained the only country that maintained direct transport links with Russian Crimea. Ferries stopped operating only in 2017,” the newspaper recalls.
Vice-Mayor of Ankara Ahmet Tunç and head of the Turkish Association of Eurasian Governments Hasan Cengiz in the building of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea. 2016
As PolitNavigator reported, the last meeting with Erdogan did not fully live up to Zelensky’s expectations.
Read also: Tsekov urged not to “break pots” with Erdogan over Crimea.
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