Friendly behavior: why Turkey wants to become a mediator in Ukraine

Turkey is ready at any time to provide a platform for finding options for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine — the resolution of this crisis has become one of the main topics of negotiations between Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko and the leadership of the republic. The politician held several meetings on February 27, including with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to experts, the authorities of this country are interested in being the main mediator between Moscow and Kiev. However, on the day of the Russian-Turkish talks, Istanbul also became a meeting place for the Russian and US delegations. Matvienko expressed confidence in the resumption of a civilized diplomatic dialogue between Moscow and Washington after the change of the American administration.

What Erdogan and Matvienko talked about

Russia is actively working on the international track: in fact, immediately after the negotiations between Russia and the United States ended in Istanbul, another one began — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting with Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. These negotiations are the central part of the program of the Federation Council delegation in Turkey. The official visit of the parliamentarians started the day before — on February 26, but all the working events took place on the 27th.

It is noteworthy that Turkey still has a trail from the visit of another high-ranking guest from Russia, who also visited Ankara the day before: on TV on the main Turkish channels there were stories about the visit of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his communication with President Erdogan.

Matvienko's talks with the leader of the republic were held in a format closed to the press and lasted about an hour. Erdogan received the Speaker of the Federation Council at the Dolmabahce residence on the shores of the Bosphorus Strait. Valentina Matvienko gave him an oral message from Vladimir Putin. Erdogan, in turn, also told the Russian leader that he was expected in Turkey. Moreover, he called Vladimir Putin his great friend, the speaker of the upper house said.

— They have a very good personal relationship and this greatly affects the nature of Russian-Turkish relations and the expansion of our cooperation in various fields. It is developing quite successfully, and in a number of areas it has already reached the level of strategic partnership, especially in the energy sector. Mr. Erdogan is completely immersed in the bilateral agenda," Valentina Matvienko told reporters.

During the talks, the head of Turkey and the Speaker of the upper house of Parliament discussed a number of topics. In the context of bilateral relations, in particular, we agreed to work towards achieving a trade turnover of $100 billion, which is an ambitious task. So far, it has exceeded $54 billion, which, according to estimates by both sides, is not enough, and the sanctions are to blame for this, Matvienko stressed.

Obviously, one of the central topics of the negotiations was the situation in Ukraine. According to the speaker of the Federation Council, the Turkish president declared his readiness to provide a platform for resolving the conflict.

— Turkey is making efforts and there have been useful initiatives, we are always attentive to initiatives that can help resolve the crisis as soon as possible, she told reporters.

Valentina Matvienko asked the Turkish president to pay attention to Kiev's activities aimed at destroying global energy security: attempts to damage infrastructure, including the Turkish Stream, continue.

Why mediation in Ukraine is important to Turkey

The dialogue between the Russian Federation and Turkey in the context of Ukraine reached a new stage a week ago — after negotiations between the Russian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia, they discussed the resumption of bilateral Russian-American relations. While the conversation was going on in Riyadh, Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Turkey. Then Erdogan reiterated that he was in favor of preserving the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and it is possible that this implies the return of all the territories lost to Kiev. The other day, the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated at all: the republic is not against Ukraine's accession to NATO. Experts say that in this way the Turks are trying to signal to Moscow that they should not be excluded from the Ukrainian dossier.

— It is important for Turkey to leave its mark on the negotiation process, as it has very serious interests in the Danubian countries as a whole, including in the southern part of Ukraine. Turkey is making a lot of efforts to control shipping and trade through the Black Sea. Therefore, it is now important for her to get involved in the negotiation process in order to maintain her interests," Dmitry Yelovsky, a political analyst, told Izvestia.

Both Recep Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan have repeatedly spoken about their desire to participate in future negotiations on Ukraine, hinting that their country should once again become a platform for dialogue. By the way, the diplomat once again repeated this at recent talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to Dmitry Yelovsky, such a frequency of trips also indicates Moscow's understanding of the situation in today's relations with Ankara in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Meanwhile, on February 21, Dmitry Peskov, responding to a question from Izvestia whether Riyadh had been identified as the final venue for the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, said that there were no specifics about their meeting yet.

On the same day, Valentina Matvienko discussed the international agenda with her Turkish counterpart, the head of the Grand National Assembly, Numan Kurtulmus. By the way, they met with him relatively recently — the head of the Turkish parliament came to Moscow in September, and Vladimir Putin received him at the same time. The extended delegation talked for about an hour and the speakers talked face-to-face for 35 minutes. They told reporters about the results. Numan Kurtulmus devoted almost half of his address to media representatives to the Ukrainian crisis, or rather to Ankara's role in trying to find a way to resolve it. He stressed that peace in Ukraine could have come as early as 2022 in Istanbul, but "some countries" decided to continue the conflict.

— In this regard, Turkey, as a neighbor of both countries, wants to end this conflict peacefully, acceptable to both sides. From the very beginning of the conflict, we preferred the diplomatic path. Under the patronage of our president, the two sides sat down at the negotiating table, and we can say that both sides have reached a certain agreement," he said.

The Speaker of the Federation Council thanked the Turkish leadership for their efforts and recalled that Russia agreed with a number of initiatives by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to promote peaceful dialogue with Ukraine, but Vladimir Zelensky refused them.

— All these steps were aimed at adding mediation in resolving the Ukrainian crisis to the treasury of Turkish diplomatic successes. Now, when other platforms are being considered, Saudi Arabia, first of all, Turkey, if I may say so, is upset that its efforts may eventually go unnoticed. And that marker, that "prize of the mediator who reconciled everyone," may not go to her. And mediation efforts in general occupy a very important place in Ankara's foreign policy," said Vitaly Sagitov, a Turkey specialist and project manager at the Primakov Center for Foreign Policy Cooperation.

Valentina Matvienko, referring to the talks between the Russian Federation and the United States that took place in Istanbul, expressed confidence in the resumption of a civilized diplomatic dialogue between the Kremlin and the White House, "which was ruined by the previous US administration." At the same time, the restoration of contacts at the level of inter-parliamentary dialogue is not on the agenda, she told the media. "I hope such a time will come, but if there is a dialogue, it will be an equal dialogue based on mutual respect," the Federation Council speaker added.

Matvienko also discussed the situation in the Middle East with representatives of Turkey. Moscow and Ankara have the same view on the need to create an independent state for the Palestinians. They also talked about Syria, where a new pro-Turkish government should start working on March 1 after the departure of Bashar al-Assad. Ankara now has close ties with the new Syrian leadership, so negotiations with it are especially important for the Russian Federation in terms of the future of Russian military bases in Tartus and Khmeimim.

On this day, the Speaker of the upper house also visited Anytkabir, the mausoleum complex of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and laid a wreath in the "Hall of Honor" of the founder of the Turkish Republic and the country's first president. Valentina Matvienko wrote in the book of honored guests that she admires how carefully the memory of Ataturk is preserved. She wished the Turkish people well-being, progress and continued prosperity. Some of those present on the square recognized the speaker of the upper house, but not all. "I do not know who it is, but the smile is kind, it looks like it's from Russia," Turkish woman Gizem from Izmir told Izvestia.