Türkiye has been the country that can build confidence between Russia and Ukraine to get them to the negotiation table since the beginning of the war. This position is unique and it gave Türkiye the opportunity to solve the grain crisis and be the corridor for the export of the accumulated grain, preventing a famine, especially in the poorer African countries.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan proved that he is the only leader that can bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the table for negotiations after he abandoned the grain deal. Erdoğan explained how he got the result: “Putin does not agree to open this grain corridor through others. But with me, when I call, he opened the corridor straightaway,” he said.
According to Soner Çağaptay, an expert on Türkiye at the Washington Institute, “Türkiye’s Ukraine policy can be summarized as pro-Ukraine but not anti-Russia.”
I agree with this description. Türkiye has a strategic geography. It is a gatekeeper to the Black Sea and all the power shifts in the region have the potential to influence Türkiye’s security and power. So Ankara wants to maintain a balanced relationship with Russia, but on the other hand, it wants to keep the region from completely falling under Moscow’s control.
This two-sided approach enabled Türkiye to coordinate the crisis over Ukraine with Russia and strengthen the economic relationship with Putin at the same time.
James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and the chair of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, said that: “In the end, Erdoğan is with the West to stop Russia from winning. But beyond that, he is going to try to maximize Türkiye’s position with Russia and Ukraine and also with the West and the Middle East.”
I think that this multidimensional approach is right and effective. The Erdoğan government is trying to be the bridge for settling the crisis in Ukraine and holding talks with both Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
In such a violent situation where Russia is still bombing various parts of Ukraine, the power of diplomacy becomes even more crucial. That is why Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said last week that the conflict cannot be solved by fighting but by diplomacy. “One way or another, this war will end at the table,” he added.
If we look back at the last nine months since the war in Ukraine started, we see that military operations have not brought about any wins for either side. It is the talks that bring about hope of ending the war and there is only one actor in the international arena today who can talk to all: Türkiye.
