DIFFERENCES DO NOT PREVENT PARTNERSHIP

In recent weeks, we saw a series of serious events following each other around the Donbass conflict and concerning the alleged disagreements between Russia and Turkey because of Ukraine. At the same time, it seems that certain world powers have a specific interest in using the situation for their own benefit as much as possible in order to disrupt the Russian-Turkish partnership.

Annoying drones

Apparently, Russia was seriously irritated by the results of the recent visit of the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to Turkey. They showed that Ankara and Kiev are significantly expanding strategic cooperation. At the institutional level, Turkish and Ukrainian authorities held bilateral consultations in the 2+2 format with the participation of foreign and defense ministers of both countries. But it was the statements of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Mr. Erdogan also confirmed that his government did not recognise the "annexation of Crimea."

Meanwhile, Turkey and Ukraine continue to improve close relations in terms of military-technical cooperation. A special attention is drawn to the supply of Turkish drones to Ukraine to perform both combat and reconnaissance operations. But most importantly, the drones have proven their effectiveness in a number of armed conflicts, including the 44-day war, as a result of which Turkey's ally, Azerbaijan, liberated its territories previously occupied by Armenia.

Kiev not only acquires Turkish drones, but also expresses interest in the joint production of Bayraktar TB2 UAVs in Ukraine. Kiev is also interested in the purchase of military short-wave radio stations, thermal imagers and other military equipment from Turkey. Turkey is also building four warships for the Ukrainian fleet.

In general, Turkey has recently established itself as one of the main, if not the main partner of Ukraine in the military-technical sector. This fact causes the greatest concern in Russia.

Immediately after Zelensky's sensational visit to Ankara, Russian authorities limited air traffic with Turkey – officially for pandemic reasons. Although this surprise move raised doubts about the official reason of the limitation, the Kremlin assured that the decision had nothing to do with the visit of the Ukrainian president to Turkey.

But the following statements of Russian officials openly hinted at the level of the Kremlin’s discontent with the rapprochement between Ankara and Kiev. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov did not rule out a revision of military-technical cooperation between Russia and Turkey if Ankara continues to sell Bayraktar TB2 drones to Ukraine. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov warned Turkey and other ‘responsible countries’ against ‘feeding the militaristic sentiments’ of the ‘Kiev regime’.

Meanwhile, certain circles in Russia demonstrated large interest to exacerbate the situation. When we analyse the information in Russian media, we can easily see that there are forces in the Russian political elite that are trying to use any pretext to form a hostile image of Turkey in the Russian society. They clearly do not like the dynamic development of relations between Moscow and Ankara, nor the dialogue between the two countries to consolidate a promising strategic partnership. In this sense, the anti-Turkish position of a number of Russian politicians and experts is completely inadequate to the current level of bilateral cooperation, which continues to play a stabilising role in a number of regions of traditional interest to both Russia and Turkey. And there is every reason to believe that, despite certain contradictions, Moscow and Ankara still know the true value of bilateral partnership and its prospects in the context of the national interests of both sides.

Independent course of Ankara

Despite the spread of clearly inadequate assessments of Turkish-Russian cooperation, Ankara confirms that its position on the Ukrainian crisis is absolutely balanced. In particular, the Turkish President made it clear that the cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine in the defense industry is not against any third party.

The head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Mevlut Cavusoglu, also made it clear that "despite the misunderstanding between Ukraine and Russia", Turkey does not support any of the parties. Regarding military-technical deals, Cavusoglu said that Turkey sells drones "to anyone who requests them," and if Russia needs Turkish military products, then "we have something to sell." In fact, this is a call inviting Russia to further expand cooperation with Turkey in the defense sector, which was seriously improved when Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

But the main message of Cavusoglu is that Turkey and Russia, although they can "find themselves on different sides", can "turn the situation into cooperation." In this sense, one cannot exclude the possibility of Russian-Turkish cooperation even on the Ukrainian issue, which is as delicate as discomforting for the Kremlin. The basis for this cooperation may be the principal position of Ankara, which urges both Russia and Ukraine to resolve the existing differences peacefully as soon as possible. Mr. Erdogan also promises to provide "the necessary support" for the settlement of the Donbass conflict on the basis of the Minsk agreements.

At the same time, there are no contradictions between the approach of Ankara and its support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The principle of territorial integrity is fundamental in international law, and condemning anyone for commitment to this principle is the height of absurdity. Any state, including Russia, is interested in the primacy of the principle of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders in international law. As for Crimea, not only Turkey, but practically the whole world continues to consider Crimea an integral part of Ukraine. Certainly, when Ankara confirms this fact during negotiations with Kiev, this does not mean that it does this because of some anti-Russian considerations, whatever they may be.

Thus, the fake news, especially in the Russian media, claiming that Turkey is almost ready to reclaim Crimea for Ukraine sound offending. Moreover, one should also take into account the fundamental position of Ankara on the protection of the interests of Crimean Tatars, another Turkic nation close to Turks. This also includes the implementation of joint Turkish-Ukrainian projects for the construction of housing and a mosque for Crimean Tatars in Kiev, Nikolaev, and Kherson.

Turkey's partnership with both Russia and Ukraine is based explicitly on the pragmatic aspirations of Ankara, which defends its interests at all regional platforms. In this sense, it is remarkable to note the instrumental role of the Black Sea Cooperation (BSEC), through which Turkey supports the development of multilateral relations with all the regional states.

Despite a membership in NATO, Turkey, nevertheless, prevents the alliance from increasing its presence in the Black Sea, as this may lead to escalation of tensions in relations with Russia.

Or let's take another significant fact of the recent past. Ministers of foreign affairs of Poland, Romania and Turkey held another trilateral meeting in Bucharest. The meeting was also attended by their counterparts from Ukraine and Georgia (as invited guests), which gave the meeting an additional political flavour. European media described the summit as "extraordinary", hinting that it could transform the troika into the five permanent members in the future. But it was the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, prevented the growth of such sentiments by underlining that the parties only had "consultations in Bucharest" and "agreed to continue coordination in a trilateral format."

In other words, Turkey, despite allied relations with the US and European states within NATO, continues to regularly reaffirm its independent course in the global political arena. This clearly causes irritation in the West, which, in fact, cooled Ankara's dialogue with both Washington and the leading European capitals.

It seems that Ukraine is considered one of the most favourable platforms for complicating relations between Moscow and Ankara. However, the strategic interests of both Turkey and Russia give reason to assume that these intentions will fail, saving Ukraine from becoming an arena of confrontation between its Eurasian neighbours.