President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has succeeded in accomplishing what French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson couldn't. He managed to gather Ukrainians and Russians at a table for peace talks in Istanbul. According to German journalist Wolfram Weimer, besides France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the “failed” list also includes Israel, Switzerland, the pope, the European Union and the United Nations.
The Istanbul talks did not remain fruitless, as the prolonged meetings in Belarus did. During the four-hour negotiations in the Dolmabahçe working office located on the shores of the Bosporus, Russia announced that it would greatly reduce its military operations in Kyiv and Chernihiv. This is Moscow's first step back on military action, which wasn't in the cards earlier.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian side promised not to become a member of NATO and to remain militarily neutral. It announced that it could set aside the status of Crimea and Donbass at the first stage. According to Kyiv's proposal, the Crimean talks, which will start with a full cease-fire, will be spread over 15 years. The talks on the status of Donbass will be held between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the meeting at the leaders' level has not been decided yet. As a key mediator, Ankara suggested that the gathering be held in Turkey as well.
Of course, there is still a long way to go to reach the first goal, a permanent cease-fire. However, it is clear that an important psychological threshold regarding the will for a solution has been crossed. It is a vital step for Putin, who has won on the field and hasn't even seen the specter of the West in Ukraine, to contribute to reducing tension.
Undoubtedly, Erdoğan's experience in the field of diplomacy as a leader who has managed to stay in office in Turkey for 20 years with democratic elections has a great role in setting up the diplomatic talks. Zelenskyy says at every opportunity that he trusts Ankara's presence in the process and that he considers the country among the list of guarantors. Putin, too, has repeatedly stated that Erdoğan is a reliable leader. The Russian president knows well that unlike Macron or other Western third country leaders, Erdoğan takes decisions independently for his country's diplomatic positions. Above all, Putin sees Erdoğan as a leader who understands that regional peace is essential for Turkey's prosperity and development.
The Western bloc, which has gone too far several times to interfere in Turkey's internal affairs, should sit and be thankful that there is a country like Turkey in Anatolia under the leadership of Erdoğan. The prolongation of the global crisis that brought World War III to the agenda is not only a disaster for Ukraine.
Accordingly, the U.S. and EU countries, which have announced sanctions against Russia, will see that they have actually shot themselves in the foot in the medium and even the short term. For example, while the U.S. dollar, which was 135 rubles at the beginning of the war, declined rapidly to around 80 rubles, even U.S. President Joe Biden has had to confess that the cost of U.S. sanctions on Russia will not be reflected only on Russia but on the U.S. and many other countries, including European countries.
