Ukraine conflict: Analysing Türkiye’s mediation that yielded positives

February 24 will mark one yr since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine for what Moscow calls a “special military operation”. And by the appears to be like of it, an early finish to the largest navy battle in Europe since World War II seems slim.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled down on his avowed aim in Ukraine and even delivered a nuclear menace by suspending a bilateral treaty with the US. Putin’s menace got here a day after US President Joe Biden made an unannounced journey to Kiev after which proceeded to rally his anti-Moscow allies in a present of western unity.      

As the battle divides the world into two camps and extra nations shed their neutrality, the position performed by Türkiye comes into sharp focus – particularly Ankara’s mediation to resolve the thorny points linked to the battle. 

Türkiye has been a key participant from the start of the battle, sustaining diplomatic relations with each nations and brokering offers between the 2 and past.

Grain deal

Take, for instance, the Black Sea grain deal. Within weeks of the battle breaking out, international meals costs had gone up, and plenty of  nations have been dealing with a menace of famine as each Ukraine and Russia are main wheat exporters. Ukraine particularly had bother transport meals grain from its ports after the battle broke out.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, allowed Ukrainian grains to be transported to the remainder of the world by way of the Black Sea and the Turkish straits. The UN-supported settlement was prolonged past its preliminary interval of 120 days and is at the moment nonetheless lively.

On Wednesday, the UN as soon as once more praised the grain deal when the General Assembly convened for a particular session to debate the Ukraine battle.

And latest experiences indicated that Erdogan and Putin would possibly as soon as once more focus on the initiative that has enabled grain exports from Ukrainian ports.

Gregory Simons, an affiliate professor on the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University, informed TRT World  that 2022 was “a defining moment” for Türkiye, which “managed to negotiate achievements that no other country can”.

Simons added, “The example of Ukraine as a geopolitical shatter belt between the US and Russia has seen Türkiye take a role as an honest broker in the conflict.”

Türkiye has been performing as a bridge between Russia and Ukraine, assembly with leaders of each nations because it tries to discover a diplomatic answer to the disaster.

In September final yr, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that the longer the battle continues, the harder it’s to succeed in a “just and mutually acceptable” answer. He was co-chairing the twelfth Ministerial Meeting of UN Groups of Friends of Mediation on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov had mentioned the topic earlier than at a bilateral assembly on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial assembly in Bali, Indonesia, in July 2022.

Balancing act

Speaking on the TRT World Forum in December 2022, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned: “While strongly defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity, we opposed fueling tension in the region with irrational policies toward Russia.”

He talked about that he would proceed to speak with each Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In additional indicators of Ankara’s balancing act, Türkiye additionally equipped high-end Bayraktar navy drones to allow Ukraine to spice up its defences in opposition to Russian aggression. 

Mesut Hakki Casin, a professor of worldwide legislation at Yeditepe University, praised the position of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who he mentioned “is the only leader capable of talking with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, working to develop a rapprochement between the two sides”.

As a part of its impartial stance, Ankara additionally closed its straits to each Russian and NATO warships in alignment with the Montreux Convention, which regulates the standing of Turkish channels. Casin mentioned that with this transfer, “Türkiye has prevented the spread of the Ukraine war to other areas, particularly in the Black Sea”. 

Source: TRT World