Export with Moscow, Akkuyu and Kyiv. Erdogan finds a new world war unprofitable

“We Can’t Break”

During his meeting with the youth, Erdogan said that Turkey cannot refuse Russian gas. The politician’s speech was posted on Twitter. According to the president, Ankara has ties to both Moscow and Kyiv.

“Today we are taking a joint step with Russia on nuclear energy. We have Akkuyu NPP project with Russia. Next year, we will complete this project and put it into service. “This is a very serious resource for us,” he said.

He added that Turkey buys half of the gas it needs from Russia.

This is a strategic issue for us, strategic relations. We cannot abandon them, we cannot tear them apart,” he said.

At the same time, he will not break relations with either Putin or Zelensky.

“I have no intention of severing ties with Mr. Putin or Mr. Zelensky. I continue with telephone diplomacy with both Putin and Zelensky. We will continue our policy, a new world war will benefit no one,” he said.

The Turkish president recalled that he sent his official representative, Ibrahim Kalyn, for negotiations with Russian and Ukrainian partners.

“We will continue to do all these in the coming period, because starting a new world war will not benefit either our region or the world. We have different relations with both sides,” he said.

pro-Turkish position

Turkey cannot afford a conflict with Russia, Wrote National Interest magazine.

“Turkey is likely to continue to pursue a pragmatic foreign policy that is neither pro-Ukrainian nor pro-Russian, but it is completely pro-Turkish. For most European countries, with the exception of Hungary and Serbia, the choice of sides was quite simple and without any conditions. However, Turkey is in a much more dangerous position. The complexity is exacerbated by its geographic location and its commercial, energy and military ties to both Russia and Ukraine.

The authors of the material noted that so far Turkey has mostly agreed with its NATO allies to support Ukraine. In addition to supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, the country has also closed the Bosphorus to Russian warships and its airspace to Russian planes flying into Syria. But at the same time, Turkey refrained from imposing sanctions against Russia. The country’s position is respected by both the Russian Federation and Ukraine: Turkey remains the only country, since the beginning of special operations, to hold a personal meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries and hold a round of negotiations between them. Ukrainian and Russian delegations.

Ankara has obvious economic, security and geopolitical interests in the current conflict, but is careful not to burn bridges or get into economic puzzles with Russia.

According to the magazine, Russian supplies provide the country with 45 percent of gas, 17 percent of oil and 70 percent of wheat, with tourist influx playing a major role, accounting for almost one-fifth of all travelers to Turkey last year. Turkey.

Ukraine is no less important for Turkey. Therefore, in 2014, Erdogan condemned the annexation of Crimea to Russia. Trade and investment between Turkey and Ukraine has been on the rise in recent years. As of 2021, Turkey was the largest foreign investor in Ukraine with 4.5 billion dollars. In addition, more than 700 Turkish companies were operating in Ukraine at that time. According to open sources, in the 2000s Ukraine became an important market for Turkish goods, and annual exports to Ukraine rose to $1,730 million by 2011. Turkey imports steel, air conditioning systems, furniture, paper, timber, agricultural products, shipbuilding and automotive products to the country. In addition, the value of Ukraine’s annual exports to Turkey rose to $4.812 million by 2011. And in 2021, bilateral trade totaled $7.42 billion.

“While Turkish authorities refused to disclose the details of the drone sale to Ukraine, Ukraine independently purchased between twenty and fifty Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 fighter jets and MİLGEM Ada-class corvettes. For Turkey, Ukraine is a platform where military products can be tested under real war conditions, significantly increasing its value and reputation in world markets.