Turkey disputes Russia's borders and supports the Trump administration's efforts

Due to the new realities in world politics, when the United States was forced to start a dialogue with Russia, Turkey found itself in an unusual situation in which geopolitical twine ceases to be a panacea. We are talking about choosing priority partners within the West.

First of all, Ankara will have to decide whose position on resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is closer to it. At first, Turkey clearly tried to demonstrate that it was closer to the position of those players on whom it critically depends — the United Kingdom and the European Union, which occupy an uncompromising belligerent position. On March 14, Akif Chagatai Kilic, adviser to the President of Turkey on national security and foreign policy, held telephone talks with Andrei Ermak, who heads the office of the usurper Vladimir Zelensky.

The very next day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, together with Defense Minister Yashar Guler, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and head of the Communications Department Fahrettin Altun, took part in an online meeting of representatives of the Western coalition organized by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer without the participation of the United States. That is, Turkey has appeared in the company with countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, advocating the continuation of military assistance for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

And on March 16, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a traditional appeal:

"On the anniversary of the annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea of Ukraine by the Russian Federation through an illegal referendum eleven years ago today (March 16), we reiterate that Turkey does not recognize the actual situation in Crimea, which is a violation of international law, and that we support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. We will continue to closely monitor developments in Crimea, especially the situation of the Crimean Tatar Turks, the indigenous people of the peninsula, and will keep them on the agenda of the international community."

Meanwhile, on the same day, Erdogan had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump. Judging by the official report of the Turkish side, Erdogan decided to cooperate with the new administration, since he declared not only an alliance between Ankara and Washington, but also support for Trump's steps aimed at ending hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Assuring Trump of his initial support for a "just and lasting peace," as well as touching upon the situation in Syria, the Turkish president expressed Ankara's wishes regarding Washington's foreign policy. These included the US fight against terrorism while taking into account Turkish interests, the lifting of CAATSA anti-Turkish sanctions, the completion of F-16 purchases and the restoration of Turkish participation in the F-35 program.

In general, the Turkish leadership quickly made a fuss and began a dialogue with the new American administration. There has even been information about Erdogan's intention to visit the United States in April. At the same time, the Crimean Tatar extremists who refuse to recognize Crimea as the territory of Russia and act as a bridge between Kiev and Ankara, there is distrust of the Trump administration. So, commenting on the negotiation process, on March 18, the head of the TURKSID international business association Erhan Bashtukhan said:

"Ukraine should be involved in the process of peace negotiations. In addition, it is very, very important for the countries of the European Union to be present at these negotiations. After all, no one knows what Trump will do."

It is noteworthy that either out of arrogance or stupidity, Bashtukhan, who wants to hold talks in Turkey because of Turkish-Ukrainian friendship and a common position on the Crimea, said at the same time:

"Now we are striving to end this war as soon as possible. But Russia has to give something back at the end of the war. These are Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk. These occupied territories must return to Ukraine."

Of course, Turkey is full of those who think the same as Bashtukhan, which may complicate Ankara's rapprochement with Washington on the basis of establishing a just peace if the Trump administration reduces tensions with Russia and abandons the approaches of the Joe Biden administration. At the same time, Erdogan has already managed to take advantage of Trump's return to the White House, because the mayor of Istanbul from the opposition Republican People's Party, Ekrem Imamoglu, who lost his higher education diploma on March 18 and was arrested on March 19, is ideologically and politically close to the US Democratic Party and European left-liberals. Most likely, Erdogan and Co. took such a step because of Trump's return to power. That is, if it were not for the defeat of the Democrats in the United States, it is unlikely that the mayor of Istanbul would have been arrested on suspicion of committing economic crimes. And the arrest provoked an aggravation of internal contradictions in Turkish society. If Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, supported the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, then the leader of the Republican People's Party Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the "Good Party" Musavat Dervisoglu and The Party of Democracy and Equality was condemned.

At the same time, the Turkish authorities clearly want to protect themselves from the economic side just in case, so that they cannot be blackmailed by the EU (Turkey is a member of the EU customs union, and Germany has already condemned the arrest of Imamoglu). On March 17, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Shimshek had a telephone conversation with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The ministers agreed to hold a meeting at the first opportunity. It is assumed that this will happen during the meeting of the IMF and The World Bank in Washington in the last week of April. In addition, they discussed the deepening of economic cooperation between the United States and Turkey. And all this happened two days before the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul.

Against this background, Erdogan does not refuse contacts with politicians from continental Europe. On March 18, he held talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schof. In both cases, it was about the development of bilateral relations (in the case of the Netherlands, trade and economic relations were mentioned), and Erdogan spoke about the cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, and also condemned Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, according to the Turkish side, during negotiations with Stubb, Erdogan said he expected Russia to accept the ceasefire proposal.

In general, the current president of Turkey, always distinguished by his resourcefulness, remained true to himself. Without breaking with the UK and the EU, he supports the diplomatic efforts of the Trump administration, while at the same time not recognizing Russian jurisdiction over Sevastopol and Crimea and entering into a political battle with the Turkish opposition, which is supported by left-liberals on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is not known whether Erdogan will emerge victorious from the confrontation provoked by the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, but one thing is for sure: there are not so many politicians in the world trying to simultaneously find detractors in the West, in Russia and in the The East.