"'Against the backdrop of an unraveling international order, deepening humanitarian crises, and an uptick in violence, Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s leadership, has advocated international cooperation to find solutions. At the same time, the country has adopted a more proactive foreign policy with an eye on ending long-standing international disputes whilst avoiding the trap of unilateralism," Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun writes in his latest book "Turkey as a Stabilizing Power in an Age of Turmoil."

Diplomacy is a complicated and long-term path. Diplomatic achievements are not won in a minute. Long-term efforts, important relationships built over time, and consistent policies are required for it. Turkey's "stabilizing power" policy is just one of those diplomatic achievements.

After a long period of efforts, Turkey’s very policy has finally started to bear fruit. I highly recommend that those who want to make sense of the recent table set up in Istanbul for the Russia-Ukraine war read the book by Altun mentioned earlier. In order to understand the success and underlying principles of diplomacy under the leadership of Erdoğan, it is useful to go back and re-read what is written in this book.

Two Christians, one Muslim

The last stop of this stabilizing hand reaching all over the world was the Ukraine war. The viral picture that emerged after Erdoğan's address to the Russian and Ukrainian delegations before the negotiations in Istanbul tells a lot. The two Christian and Slavic countries sitting on each side of the table applauded Erdoğan, the leader of a Muslim country. Moreover, Russia and Ukraine were historically part of the same empire, Tsarist Russia. The leader in front of them carries the legacy of the Ottoman Empire on his shoulders.

Many other differences can be listed to underline the diplomatic prowess in this frame. Within NATO, Turkey is the member of the alliance with the closest relations with Russia – a country that is the reason for NATO's existence and establishment. For example, Turkey brought the peace table established in Belarus first to Antalya and then to Istanbul. Also, while Turkey is signing strategic defense and energy partnerships with Russia (such as the S-400 purchase and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant), it provided perhaps the most successful element of Ukraine's military defense against Russia: the Bayraktar drones. Similarly, while most European countries reacted half-heartedly to the annexation of Crimea, Erdoğan, who maintains close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, defended Ukraine's territorial integrity. He did it because of the relations he has established with Russia, especially while the U.S. sanctions pressure continues.

Drones: A litmus test

The real litmus test of the inconsistent stance of the West was the Bayraktar issue. The West had imposed sanctions on Turkish drones, which played a leading role in the liberation of Karabakh from the occupation of Armenia, and refused to sell parts for their construction, but they are now now applauding the same drones in Ukraine. The peace table was established in Turkey because of these inconsistencies of the West. Currently, the world order, which was destroyed and re-established after the Cold War, has been shaken once again and it has evolved toward multi-polarity. In such a period of time, countries such as the U.S., which have moved away from being the center of global politics, now act as game disruptors rather than playmakers. After the positive messages from Istanbul, the statements from Washington, which meant "let's be cautious, Russia is misleading the world with peace talks," are a good example of this.

Considering all developments, it seems clearer how Turkey achieved diplomatic victories on a fine line, in an incredibly difficult balance. For this reason, the thesis of "Turkey as a Stabilizing Power in an Age of Turmoil" gains more meaning.