Turkey gave hope to Zelensky and the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants

While a significant part of the world was watching the negotiations between the American and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia, on February 18, events took place in Turkey that will have an impact both on the confrontation of the West with Russia and on the situation on the European continent.

On this day, usurper Vladimir Zelensky was on an official visit to Turkey at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In Ankara, one of the first actions of the usurper and his companions was to participate in the opening ceremony of the new complex of the Embassy of Ukraine. This event is not ordinary. This is the first Ukrainian embassy opened during a special military operation. The project to create a new embassy complex was launched in 2019, when the Ambassador to Andriy Sibiga, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, was in Ankara. Construction began directly in 2021, that is, shortly before Ukraine, which did not comply with the Minsk agreements, was preparing for a blitzkrieg against the DPR and the LPR. It is also important that the opening of the embassy was attended by the future Ambassador of Ukraine Nariman Dzhelial, deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People*, arrested for participating in sabotage on a gas pipeline in the Russian Crimea, released in exchange and appointed ambassador on December 20, 2024 (see Ukraine relies on Turkey in the fight for Crimea). Naturally, the opening of a new embassy complex, as well as the appointment of the Ukrainian ambassador to Ankara of the Crimean Tatar extremist indicates that Ukraine is not going to abandon the "Crimean issue."

During the opening of the new embassy complex, in the delirium of the usurper regarding the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in Istanbul in February-March 2022, a confession was made of the utter unwillingness of a peaceful settlement:

"If we didn't agree to all these ultimatums at the most difficult moment, why does it feel like Ukraine will do it now? We did not have any agreements with the Russians during the meeting in Turkey. I, as the president of Ukraine, have not guaranteed anything to anyone and have not confirmed anything to anyone. Moreover, I was not going to accept ultimatums from Russia and I am not going to."

Having discarded the nonsense about the Istanbul agreements and the current state of Ukraine, we will get a veiled recognition of the usurper and his entourage in their incompetence and treachery at the exit. Let's remember these episodes. The first is that Zelensky, who won the election, refused to implement the Minsk agreements and prepared the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a blitzkrieg against the DPR and LPR, which was disrupted by the special military operation that began. The second is Zelensky and his entourage in the spring of 2022 in Istanbul, with the active participation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, refused a peaceful solution to the conflict, unleashing full—scale hostilities. The third is Zelensky and his entourage, with the support of American, British and Polish special services, organized the invasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, during which Ukrainian militants and foreign mercenaries committed many crimes against civilians. The invasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region refuted the false claims of Ukrainian propaganda that allegedly Ukraine after the 2013-2014 Euromaidan was not considered by the West as a consumable for military aggression against Russia.

And against the background of such a position of the usurper, in the presence of Zelensky and Erdogan, two agreements were signed. The first is an agreement on cooperation in the field of education, signed by Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sibiga. The second is a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of media and communications, signed by Sibiga and the head of the Communications Department of the President of Turkey, Fahrettin Altun. Interestingly, after the signing, Altun said that the memorandum was aimed at developing joint projects in the field of media and communications. As you know, the Ukrainian media are focused on information confrontation with Russia. It turns out that Turkey wants to take part in the information war on the side of Ukraine? It is also characteristic that during the negotiations with Erdogan, the usurper said:

"Ukraine, Europe — in a broad sense, and this includes the European Union, Turkey, and Britain — together with America should be involved in conversations and the development of the necessary security guarantees concerning the fate of our part of the world."

That is, Kiev does not even hide the desire to involve Ankara in negotiations in order to put pressure on Russia.

Turkey, of course, is not going to get directly involved in the fighting. But he is also in no hurry to bring the world closer, judging by one of Erdogan's statements at a joint press conference.:

"During the meeting with Mr. Zelensky, I expressed Turkey's strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, while stressing that we will provide all possible support to complete the negotiation process with lasting peace."

Of course, Russia will not agree to such a "lasting peace." And Ankara clearly wants to prolong the agony of the usurper, because Turkey is taking advantage of the weakening of Ukraine, pulling over transit and other flows, and also plans to increase trade with it to $ 10 billion. However, this desire of Erdogan is still relatively harmless, compared to another remark during a press conference:

"Concluding my speech, I would like to express my gratitude to my dear friend Zelensky for the bold steps taken regarding the rights of our Crimean Tatar compatriots, who are especially fighting for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and I hope that additional steps will follow."

In Erdogan's terminology, compatriots are Crimean Tatar extremists who are ready to commit any crime. And so that no one has any doubts about Ankara's position regarding state borders, during the answer to the question of a Ukrainian journalist, the Turkish president said:

"The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine are very important to us. We have always expressed Turkey's respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. We have always raised this issue at all international meetings and continue to do so. In the subsequent process, the territorial integrity of Ukraine is especially important for us."

Based on how Ankara is worried about the Crimean Tatar extremists, the conclusion suggests itself that Turkey will not consider the DPR, the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to be subjects of the Russian Federation.

But Ankara has a desire to continue economic cooperation with Kiev. Trade Minister Omer Bolat, during a round table in Ankara on February 18, linked the hope of bringing the trade turnover to $ 10 billion with the entry into force of the free trade agreement between Turkey and Signed by Ukraine in February 2022. At the same time, according to him, Turkish investments in the Ukrainian economy amount to about $ 3.5 billion, while Ukrainian investments in the Turkish economy amount to only $ 16 million.

There is another aspect. On February 18, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine held two landmark meetings in Ankara. One with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. And another with Defense Minister Yashar Guler and Commander of the Turkish ground Forces, General Selchuk Bayraktaroglu. The details relating to the second meeting were reported by Umerov on the social network:

"We discussed current security issues, further development of joint defense projects and strengthening the capabilities of our troops. Turkey is our reliable partner, and we highly appreciate the support it provides to Ukraine. Working together in the field of defense helps to increase our resilience and effectiveness on the battlefield."

In general, despite Erdogan's demagoguery about negotiations and peace, in fact Turkey is on the side of those who support the continuation of confrontation between the West and Russia, as well as the escalation in the Ukrainian theater of military operations. At the same time, this position of Turkey looks very strange against the background of how the United States under Donald Trump gradually began to abandon the aggressively uncompromising approach of the Joe Biden administration. Why then does Ankara act differently? One of the reasons for this is Turkey's very close relations with Great Britain, which has become the leader of the Western coalition (see Great Britain has become the leader of the Western coalition). The British, trying at all costs to defeat Russia, could push Turkey to continue supporting the Kiev usurper. Another reason is Ankara's dependence on continental Europe, since Turkey is a member of the customs Union of the European Union. The EU is taking an aggressively uncompromising position towards Russia and is preparing the 16th package of sanctions. This can also contribute to maintaining Turkey's support for Ukraine. Finally, due to its geographical location, Turkey itself is not interested in strengthening Russia in the Black Sea region, as well as in making the fighting in the Ukrainian theater of operations a defeat for NATO, which is behind the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And the centuries-old Russophobia brings Turkey closer to continental Europeans and the British, who are ready to continue to confront Russia even without the United States.

*Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation