Erdogan: Turkey did not participate in the “Ukrainian show”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara was not participating in the “show to resolve the situation in Ukraine”. At the same time, he stressed that the Turkish side made “the most sincere effort” for a ceasefire.

“Instead of demonstrations that did not contribute to the resolution of the Ukraine crisis, we made the most sincere efforts to establish a ceasefire and peace. We provided serious, tangible and useful aid to Ukraine. Erdogan said after the cabinet meeting, “We boldly expressed our stance towards Russia.”

At the same time, Turkey continues to develop its relations with Russia,” he said.

The politician previously noted that Ankara has “different relations” with Moscow and Kyiv.

Following the start of special operations on February 24, delegations of Russia and Ukraine held three face-to-face meetings in Belarus, followed by negotiations over video link. On 29 March, face-to-face meetings were held at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. The head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Ukrainian delegation David Arakhamia, the adviser to the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak, the deputy head of Zelensky’s office Kirill Timoshenko, businessman Roman Abramovich and others. .

The talks, which started with President Erdogan’s farewell speech to the delegations, lasted for about 3 hours.

What did they find during the negotiations?

The meeting resulted in agreements that implied Ukraine’s neutral and non-nuclear status, backed by international guarantees, and the non-use of force against Crimea and “certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions”. special operation). At the same time, Moscow did not object to Kiev’s desire to apply for EU membership.

The Russian side also promised to drastically reduce military activity near Kyiv and Chernigov. Medinsky even mentioned a possible meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, which is expected to take place in parallel with the initialing of the peace agreement.

In addition, Ukraine offered to ensure its security to the member states of the UN Security Council, including Russia, Turkey and Germany. It was emphasized that the guarantee system would not work in the republics of Crimea and Donbass.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who was present at the meeting, expressed his confidence that “the most important progress has been made in Istanbul so far in this process”. “More complex issues should be discussed at the level of presidents,” he said.

On April 12, Vladimir Putin said that Kiev’s move away from the agreements reached in Turkey had put the negotiation process in a deadlock. In mid-May, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the negotiations with the participation of the Russian Federation and Ukraine are “not in progress” at the moment “in any form”. Moscow handed over the draft agreement to Kiev, but so far there has been no response. In addition, the ministry stressed that the Ukrainian side is trying to “clean up” the previously reached agreements.

On May 23, Medinsky said that Russia had not abandoned negotiations with Ukraine, but that Kiev was “in no hurry” and was slowing the process. “It seems that they are in no hurry. The ball is completely on their side. From our point of view, we are ready to continue the dialogue,” said Podolyak in an interview with Reuters that same day, stressing that Kiev will resume negotiations only after the departure of Russian troops from Ukraine.

“We will do our best”

At a press conference held on May 23, Erdoğan also touched upon the issue of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, emphasizing that Turkey will “do everything it can”. At the same time, Ankara has a condition – to change the stance of the two countries on issues that concern Ankara.

“I emphasize once again: Those who support and protect terrorists should reconsider their illegal, arrogant stance against us,” the Turkish leader said.

Let no one doubt that we will do our best if we see concrete changes in matters that concern us.

Finland and Sweden had previously submitted their applications for NATO membership to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Turkish authorities declarationHe stated that they could not say “yes” to the expansion of the alliance at the expense of these countries, as they were not satisfied with their stance on the “Kurdish problem”.

There are supporters of the PKK in Scandinavian countries, the ultra-left movement DHKPC (considered a terrorist in Turkey, the EU, and the US) and supporters of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen (Ankara believes he is trying to form an organization). coup in Turkey). Bloomberg previously cited sources knowledgeableIt would be enough for Ankara that Stockholm and Helsinki at least publicly condemn the PKK and its “affiliates” and recognize the movement as terrorists.