Dragana Trifkovic, Director General of the Center for geostrategic studies
A few days ago, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Turkey is in favor of seeking diplomatic ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. We will remember that they are in Turkey in spring 2022. negotiations between Moscow and Kiev were organized in 2019, which ended in failure thanks to London, after the then British prime minister Boris Johnson urged Kiev not to sign anything with the Russian Federation and to keep fighting. Although Western countries, like Turkey, are in favor of achieving peace in Ukraine, it is clear that their actions are fundamentally different from rhetoric. Minsk agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine (2014-2015) year.), It served the West only to buy time to further strengthen Ukraine's armed forces. This was confirmed by the former chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, which clearly says that when the West "Orwellian" talks about peace, it is actually waging war ("war is peace, freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is power" by George Orwell in 1984). In this connection, the collective West has lost any credibility to speak and negotiate peace as a party that encourages conflict and does not respect international law. But is Turkey different from the West on this issue and can Turkey be trusted?
When it comes to Ukraine, a sufficient indicator is that Kiev is actively supplying Turkish weapons, and it is inconceivable that someone who is allegedly advocating for peace is simultaneously sending huge amounts of weapons to the side in the conflict. Military-political cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine began long before the start of the Russian special military operation (SVO) demilitarization and denacification of Ukraine. A number of agreements on Military-Technical Cooperation have been signed between Turkey and Ukraine, including the construction of the Bayraktar Savunma Center for training and testing of drones, the construction of an industry for the production of drones, the construction of warships for the Ukrainian Navy, the agreement on joint construction of Zenit-2 ballistic missiles and military-an-178 transport aircraft according to Ukrainian technology, intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of high technology, aviation and space industry, etc. Since the beginning, all Turkey has increased its arms exports to Ukraine by thirty times, on which the country has spent hundreds of millions of dollars. Turkey has sent to Ukraine Kirpi armored personnel carriers, TRLG-230 guided multiple missile systems (RSZOS), SUNGUR air-to-air missiles, Firtina T-155 self-propelled artillery pieces, Canik machine guns, etc.
PHOTO: Turkish weapons at the exhibition of NATO trophy equipment in Moscow (personal archive)
In addition to military assistance, Turkey also supports Ukraine politically, speaking out for the preservation of Ukraine's territorial integrity. It is well known that Turkey does not respect the results of the democratic referendum in Crimea, and also does not recognize the new territories that were annexed to Russia such as the Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts, the Donetsk and Lugansk republics. It is necessary to point out here that Turkey was among the first to support the illegal secession of Kosovo (without any referendum) and to this day has remained a strong supporter of Kosovo separatists and terrorists, whom it also actively arms and trains. In addition, Turkey supports the entry of the fake State of Kosovo into NATO and other international institutions, ignoring fully international law and Resolution 1244, as does the collective West. From this, it can be concluded that the attitude of the official Turkey (as well as the collective West) towards Russia and Serbia is the same, and that it is reflected in the failure to respect any rights of both countries, and in the firm support for the terrorist and illegal regimes of Pristina and Kiev. Although Erdogan, not by sheer luck but thanks to Russia, avoided being replaced himself in a coup organized by the West against him, this does not seem to have led him to reconsider his positions. Therefore, Turkey's (as well as the collective West's) commitment to peace acts as a "peace mission" of a terrorist with a bomb in his hand, that is, an impossible mission.
When we talk about the Palestinian issue, the situation is far more complex. Turkey has claimed leadership in the Muslim world since the formation of Israel in 1948. he has a special relationship with this country. Turkey was the first Muslim country to officially recognize Israel in 1949. it has developed more than close ties with Tel Aviv, although Israel's attitude towards the Palestinian issue completely conflicts with Turkey's "protective" role towards the Palestinians. Turkey has often issued very harsh condemnations to the Israeli leadership, but it has not taken serious steps to sever strategic ties with Israel. In light of the escalation of hostilities between Palestine and Israel, Israel's war efforts aimed at the Palestinian population, and the mobilization of the world public in support of Palestine, Turkey's duplicitous policy remains quite unsustainable. In this regard, Erdogan's rhetoric is increasing, but it still does not align with the actions. Turkey has a very strong military and economic cooperation with Israel that has been developing for years. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, trade turnover between Turkey and Israel in 2023. it was worth 6 6.8 billion a year. About 76% of this amount is made up of Turkish exports to Israel.
Interestingly, the US media outlet Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Turkey was ending all export and import operations with Israel, citing unnamed sources from Turkey. However, official confirmation from Turkey has not arrived. Only a few days later, the Turkish Ministry of trade clarified that Turkish companies were continuing to deliver already ordered goods to Israel. Israel's foreign minister said it was a victory for Tel Aviv. It is obvious that this is another bluff by Erdogan and that Turkey continues to trade with Israel because it has no exit strategy. The Turkish economy is in serious trouble due to high inflation of 70% and high unemployment. For this reason, Erdogan would rather sacrifice political principles, which are based only on words. It seems more than ridiculous that Erdogan is still trying to teach others moral lessons and play the righteous.
Photo by President of Turkey (Anadolu Ayansi)
A few days ago, the Turkish president compared Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, promising that Turkey would do "everything possible" to hold Israel's barbaric government accountable for its actions. On that occasion, he did not miss the chance to once again express his malice by mentioning Milosevic and Mladic in the same context. He did so to identify Nazi Germany with Serbia and to support the western fabrication of a "genocide" in Srebrenica directed by Clinton, Izetbegovic and Western intelligence services. Essentially all the contradiction between the Turkish leadership and the Israeli leadership stems from their deep integration into the Western system of global governance. But it's already a topic for a much longer text. The answers to many questions are found in the words of one of the most respected Islamic theologians Sheikh Imran Hosein: "the Ottoman Empire sowed the seeds of evil among the nations in the name of Islam in the Balkans....“. With a very precise connection between history and the present, Imran Hossein realizes that NATO continued this mission in the 1990s.
In any case, as long as Erdogan continues to act as a peacemaker and at the same time sell arms to Ukraine or call Israel a terrorist state and at the same time trade with them ignoring the killing of children in Gaza, it is a matter of serious reflection. Circumstances are rapidly changing, and double-entry bookkeeping is becoming increasingly apparent.
4. June 2024.
