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2021-05-30 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Why did Erdogan support Lukashenko?
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Direct translation of the article
By Stanislav Tarasov
What was originally supposed happened. Turkey managed to soften and even to some extent neutralize the official NATO reaction to the incident with the emergency landing of a Ryanair passenger plane in Minsk and the subsequent detention of opposition activists.
The text of the statement, according to Reuters, did not include the wording present in the early EU statement and providing for punitive measures proposed by Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, as well as threats to suspend NATO's cooperation with Belarus. The reasons for such actions by Ankara have not been officially disclosed; the Turkish Foreign Ministry refers to the confidential nature of the negotiations.
But there are factors that lie on the surface. Ankara is acting pragmatically and exclusively in its own national interests. She does not want to lose profits in the next tourist season, of which Russian and Belarusian tourists are traditionally an integral part. Now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic between Russia and Turkey has been extremely reduced, and many Russian tourists travel to Turkey via Minsk.
It is significant that Turkish airlines make daily flights to Belarus, despite the demarche of the Baltic and other European airlines that have refused to use the Belarusian airspace. In addition, Russia has stopped issuing entry permits to flights that fly over Belarus, which is perceived as its reaction to the European "air war" declared against Minsk. Ankara does not want to be a member of it and is actively negotiating with Moscow to resume flights in connection with the holiday season. There is also another "gain" here: in the current situation, Russia may turn out to be more compliant in negotiations with Turkey on lifting restrictions on air traffic.
And now about the political issues. The fact is that in the triangle Minsk - Ankara - Baku a kind of trusting style has developed in building relationships. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko supported Azerbaijan in the second Karabakh war and offered Ilham Aliyev assistance in restoring the "liberated territories".
Therefore, Ankara refused to pay Minsk with ingratitude. On the other hand, there is Moscow behind Minsk, and Turkey understands this well, since it itself is in an alliance with Russia in the Syrian direction. Plus, Turkey's problems with France in Libya, US claims on Syria, a crisis in relations with Greece due to the development of minerals in the Mediterranean. Therefore, according to the Turkish government agency Anadolu,"It makes no sense for Turkey to play on the side of the West in relation to Belarus without any proposed positive conditions . "
Moreover, according to Turkish experts, the West, exerting strong pressure on Ankara and Minsk for various reasons, “pushes them towards Moscow, narrowing the opportunities to pursue a multi-vector foreign policy, and the sanctions decisions made by the West against Belarus and Turkey are becoming an important factor in their relationship with the West ” .
This position brings Lukashenko closer to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Let's mark one more point, which highlights the Turkish edition of Evrensel. It is beneficial for Ankara to act as an opportunist in relation to the West. In this context, Turkey's policy towards Minsk is understandable and logical.
Recall that on May 25, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking about Ukrainian affairs, brought up the idea that "at all levels we strongly recommend our Turkish colleagues to carefully analyze the situation and stop feeding Kiev's militaristic sentiments." In Ankara, Lavrov's hint was appreciated and taken in a broader sense, drawing their own conclusions.
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Posted by badanov 2021-05-30 00:00||
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Posted by Skidmark 2021-05-30 10:51||
2021-05-30 10:51||
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