Vowing continued Turkish efforts for peace in Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday underlined the need for a cease-fire that will pave the way for lasting peace to end the eight-week-old war.
"Ensuring a cease-fire first, and then permanent peace between our two neighbors will be one of the most auspicious works to be carried out for the humanity,” Erdoğan said in the capital Ankara after an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner with a group of ambassadors for the holy month of Ramadan.
"I wholeheartedly believe that a peaceful solution can be found through dialogue on the basis of preserving Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the president underlined.
"With globalization, our responsibilities to each other increase as well,” Erdoğan said, adding: "Even if we forget or refuse to admit it, everything that takes place reminds us once again that all of humanity is in the same boat. We witness this bitter truth in many areas, from conflicts to economic crises, from the pandemic to environmental disasters.”
Amid these realities, Turkey strives to fulfill its duties and play a productive role, said the president.
"We made intense diplomatic efforts to end the conflicts that started between our two neighbors. At the (March) Antalya Diplomacy Forum, we ensured that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia met with the participation of our foreign minister. Then we hosted the parties in Istanbul to continue their face-to-face negotiations.”
Russia and Ukraine have made progress, but images from the cities of Bucha and Irpin as well as the targeting of civilians in Kramatorsk cast a shadow over Turkey’s efforts, he added, referring to images of carnage that made headlines worldwide.
Despite negative developments, online talks between the parties continue, Erdoğan noted, adding: "Both sides also say they are in favor of advancing the talks in Istanbul."
Turkey is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Ankara has offered to mediate between the two sides and host peace talks, underlining its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.
In a breakthrough, Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for peace talks in Istanbul on March 29 as the war entered its second month with casualties piling up on both sides.
During the talks, Ukrainian officials signaled readiness to negotiate a “neutral status,” a key Russian demand, but demanded security guarantees for their country. Ukraine wants to see countries, including Turkey, as guarantors in a deal with Russia, a Ukrainian negotiator said after the talks. Russia, meanwhile, pledged to significantly decrease its military activities focusing on the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv to build trust for future negotiations.
Turkey also hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya last month. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine met in the Turkish resort town of Antalya for talks, which Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also attended. The talks were largely inconclusive, but Ankara views the fact that the talks took place at all as a success. Ankara has offered to host future peace talks.
Erdoğan has reiterated his offer to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks to secure peace between the two countries on several occasions. Erdoğan voiced hope that a possible summit between the two leaders in Istanbul could bring an end to the war.
Erdoğan also pledged to continue efforts to reach an outcome that both sides and the international community are satisfied with through talks in Istanbul.
"The Ukraine war has once again shown how accurate our quest for the establishment of a fair world order is. The importance of our reform efforts in the United Nations Security Council, which we have symbolized by saying the world is bigger than five, has been understood.”
Erdoğan has long championed efforts to reform the Security Council to fairly represent all members.
He underlined that the latest developments in the context of Ukraine clearly demonstrate the importance of both the NATO alliance and Turkey within the alliance.
Erdoğan added that European Union membership remains a strategic goal for Turkey, adding that the negative effects of the war in Ukraine have demonstrated the tactical importance of Turkey's position for the EU in many areas, particularly security and energy.
Over the last two years, Turkey has supplied medical assistance to 160 countries and 12 international organizations, said Erdoğan, noting that to date, it has donated 6.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 19 countries.
Turning to the normalization process with Armenia, Erdoğan stressed that Turkey is "sincerely” continuing the process while also working to prevent "new tensions” and maintain stability in the neighboring Balkans.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or commercial ties for three decades, and the recent talks are the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord, which was never ratified and ties have remained tense. Following the war over Nagorno-Karabakh in which Turkey supported Azerbaijan against Armenia, Turkish-Armenian relations entered a new phase, with President Erdoğan saying Turkey is ready for dialogue with Armenia. Azerbaijan also supports the process.
The first meeting of special representatives from Turkey and Armenia toward normalization was held in January. The countries attended what both hailed as "positive and constructive" talks in Moscow, the first in more than a decade, raising hopes that diplomatic relations can be established and their land border – shut since 1993 – reopened.
Stating that Turkey is determined to maintain the momentum gained in relations with Middle Eastern countries, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, Erdoğan also reiterated Turkey's support for Palestine.
Ankara prioritizes ensuring stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and on the island of Cyprus, and strives for a just, realistic and sustainable solution, he added.
Turkey has engaged in an effort to mend its frayed ties with regional powers, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Erdoğan reiterated that Turkey hopes to maximize its cooperation with Egypt and Gulf nations "on a win-win basis," at a time when Ankara intensified diplomacy to mend its fraught ties with Cairo and some Gulf Arab nations after years of tensions.
