Twelve days have already passed since Russia launched a war on Ukraine. The aggressiveness, the bombardment and loss of the civilians are immense. It is a typical, classic war. Russia has not hidden its intentions regarding Ukraine. It wants to seize the whole country.
Unfortunately, we see a sharply divided world. The Cold War era seems to be back. The United States is strengthening its relationship with Europe; China and India seem to be closer to Russia and a few countries like Turkey are trying to maintain the dialogue between these two poles.
In this paradigm, Turkey’s role is critical, as it is a very strong NATO member, a candidate country for the European Union and a strategic partner to the U.S. However, at the same time, Turkey also has very strong relations with Russia and has power over the Caucasus as well.
That is why President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s efforts for peace are precious in this crisis. Erdoğan held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 5 and told him that Turkey is ready to contribute to the solution of the Ukraine problem through peaceful means.
Actually, Turkey has called for peace from the first day on and has condemned this war. Nevertheless, unlike the West, Turkey does not support closing the door to dialogue with Russia. “At least one country should keep the channels open for dialogue.” This is the summary of the view of Turkey’s Presidency and the Foreign Ministry.
In Sunday’s phone call with Putin, Erdoğan emphasized the importance of taking urgent steps to ensure a cease-fire, open humanitarian corridors and establish a peace agreement.
I should remind you that Erdoğan is at the same time in constant contact with the Ukrainian side and aims to create a foundation for comprehensive negotiations to achieve results.
Turkey’s position is unique. It borders Ukraine and Russia as a NATO member and has good ties with both. It is the ideal actor for being the mediator in this conflict. It supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty but tries not to offend Moscow at the same time to maintain the dialogue.
The war is actually a very violent and aggressive one-sided move. Putin does openly not respect Ukraine as a sovereign state and violates the most basic rules of territorial integrity and international law. A country is under attack, civilians are being targeted, thrown out of their homeland and the world witnesses a huge tragedy in 2020s.
This is a tragic moment for world history. We all have our share in it unfortunately. The humanity has not succeeded in overcoming wars and power struggles; quite the opposite, the aggression and problems have accelerated in the last 20 years. The 21st century has not brought peace and stability. It started with the 9/11 attack and continued with counterterrorism operations that were mainly feeding Islamophobia at the same time, Putin’s Russia was born from ashes on the premise of a revitalizing imperial Russia, a pandemic hit the world and the divisions, clashes and atrocities have become much more visible and wilder.
The Ukrainian war is the most recent dramatic outcome of all these accumulated problems.
Now the world is faced with a test: Will we succeed in establishing peace again, or will we be thrown into other wars and unrest in the following days?
