Today, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Turkey, it might be a good time to look back at these years to check where we are now. Since the establishment of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Turkey back in 2011, both countries have gone a long way in their efforts to implement an ambitious bilateral agenda. Some of the goals, like introducing the visa free (and since recently – even passport free) regime and creating a mechanism of the High-Level Strategic Council (HLSC) for regular political consultations between the Heads of the State, have been successfully realized. The others, like endeavors to build a strategic industrial alliance that would include joint projects across a variety of military, technological, and defense areas, are yet to be achieved. However, I am especially glad that at the current stage, we have no limitations in developing close relations with Turkey even in the most sensitive areas such as the nuclear energy, aviation and space technologies, defense and military cooperation. On these and other matters, we keep our doors open for our Turkish friends.
REGIONAL AGENDA
Today we are living through very difficult times. Both Ukraine and Turkey are now facing multiple challenges within the national boundaries as well as around the borders. The Russo-Georgian war of 2008, the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine and, most recently, its intervention in Syria have demonstrated the fragility of the regional security architecture. International community turned out to be ill-prepared to counter the non-conventional methods of the “hybrid” wars and to suggest efficient responses to the new acts of aggression, both real and virtual, often directly threatening the member-countries of NATO and EU.
Kremlin’s assertive policy and intervention in Ukraine and Syria has not only reinvigorated concerns about possible Russian military expansion, but also questioned the viability of the liberal democracies in Europe. What is more important, by brutal violations of all fundamental human rights and blatant disregard of such basic multilateral treaties, as the Budapest Memorandum, it actually threatens the whole system of the international law with UN on its top. That is why, at this point, cooperation between our countries is not only a question of preference, but of necessity.
POLITICAL DIALOG
Today a political dialog between our countries has been gaining a new speed. After the mechanism of the High-Level Strategic Council was established in 2011, we’ve successfully used this mechanism of annual presidential meetings as a chance to strengthen our relations of strategic partners and fill this partnership with tangible content. It is only within the past year that our president, secretary general of National Security and Defense Council, prime minister, head of General Staff, ministers of foreign affairs, defense, economic development and trade, agriculture, transport, energy and others have visited Turkey. Some of them – on several occasions. The same thing can be said regarding the high-level visits of Turkish officials to Ukraine. Just recently, on May 21-22, our Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin and Vice Prime Minister/Minister of Economic Development and Trade Stepan Kubiv visited Istanbul to participate in the BSEC summit and take over the chairmanship in this organization from Turkey. Now, we are expecting the President of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to Kyiv for the Sixth HLSC meeting.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: CRIMEA, BLACK SEA SECURITY, AND MORE
These mutual visits are not about the leadership meetings per se. They have been called to become a clear message to all countries trying to bring instability to the region and beyond. Today, amid the regional turmoil and global uncertainty, Ukraine and Turkey have been in close cooperation within the framework of the multilateral international organizations, spending joint efforts for the de-occupation of Crimea, protecting rights of the Ukrainian citizens, including Crimean Tatars, in the occupied territories and implementation of the cease-fire agreement in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
In this regard, I would like to thank the Turkish government for its unweaving support of Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty. We highly appreciate Turkey’s strong stance on Crimea, not only decrying its annexation as unacceptable, but also working in close cooperation with Ukraine to consolidate international support on the issue, co-sponsoring UN Resolutions, like in case of the 2014 Resolution “Territorial integrity of Ukraine” and “Human rights situation in Crimea,” not recognizing illegal Russian acts on the occupied peninsula, and keeping the Crimean question high on the agendas of multilateral international organizations, such as UN, PACE, OSCE etc. In its turn, Ukraine has reaffirmed its strong support to the legitimately elected government of Turkey during the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and stands together with Turkey in its war on terrorism.
JOINT DEFENSE AND MILITARY PROJECTS
In fact, Ukraine and Turkey have been working within the framework of the multilateral mechanisms called to strengthen security measures and contribute to stability in the Black Sea region since mid-1990s. Over the years both countries have been jointly participating in international peacekeeping operations, bilateral and multilateral military and naval exercises, like the Black Sea Harmony, Sea Breeze, BlackSeaFor and others. However, the new challenges of the “hybrid” wars have brought about a new vision of the security arrangements in the Black Sea basin, requiring quick reaction, operational mobility, and considerable flexibility in decision-making process. This made Ankara and Kyiv focus even more on intensifying their bilateral naval cooperation in the Black Sea basin, deepening cooperation of the fleets and practicing joint tactical maneuvering.
On a larger scale, the General Staffs of the Ukrainian and Turkish Armed Forces have recently signed a “road map” for military cooperation until 2020. In fact, this document is a detailed implementation plan of practical measures on military cooperation, aimed both at strengthening bilateral ties and getting Turkish support in preparing Ukrainian Army in accordance with NATO standards.
Cooperation between our countries in the defense sector is not something new. However, today we are talking about a possibility of creating joint projects across a variety of military, technological, and defense areas. Taking into account the technological and intellectual resources, as well as long and successful story of the Ukrainian space and defense industry enterprises, Ukraine has a potential to become one of the most important partners of Turkey in the aerospace. Both countries regard scientific and technical cooperation in the high-tech spheres of space rocket industry and military-industrial complex as crucial for further development of their strategic partnership, with the prospects to jointly enter the global market with a joint product and full cycle of related services.
BOOSTING ECONOMIC COOPERATION
As I have already mentioned, this year is a very symbolic one since it marks the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations. However, it also marks the 25-percent growth of turnout between Ukraine and Turkey only in the first two months of 2017, which means a new positive tendency in bilateral trade. Today, the economic ties between our countries are boosting, and strengthening economic cooperation has been declared as an absolute priority of bilateral relations both on the prime-ministers’ and presidential level. With the signing of the three basic documents – the Free Trade Agreement, the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments Agreement, and the Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (in a new edition) – which we expect in the near future, this sphere will get a new impetus for development.
With a new wave of privatization in Ukraine, Turkish companies have recently been exploring new opportunities of investing into the seaport and energy infrastructure, coalmines, and other strategically important state enterprises. With the implementation of the new, ID cards border crossing regime with Turkey, we also expect a boost in tourism and a significant rise in mutual traveling.
OUR COUNTRIES ARE SHARING THE SAME FEELINGS
To conclude, for Ukraine, Turkey is not a “strategic” choice. It is a natural partner – not only in terms of geographical proximity, but also a historical determinant and a geopolitical imperative. As Ataturk once put it, Ukraine and Turkey “are doomed to cooperation” – and today this is exactly the case. Obviously, in the past couple of years the difficulties of making the way through the regional turmoil have brought about new challenges but also presented unique opportunities for further deepening the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Turkey in a completely new regional environment.
And today, I am absolutely sure, there are no obstacles for reaching all of our ambitious goals, since four hundred years of our common history and common –peaceful – coexistence in the region make us close not just in terms of geography, but also in common traditions, language, and challenges. Though this year we are officially celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the early diplomatic contacts date back as far as to 1649 when the first bilateral agreement was signed between the Ottoman Sultan and Ukrainian Kozaks. The first Ukrainian diplomatic mission was opened in Istanbul in 1918 after the Ukrainian People’s Republic was declared and, soon after, recognized by the Ottoman Empire. I am sure that today the Ottoman archives still hide a lot of unknown pages of our common history that are yet to be discovered. That is why, I believe, the Ukrainians and Turks will never have a problem to understand each other even without basic knowledge in Turkish or Ukrainian languages.
As a famous Sufi philosopher Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi put it, “Not the ones speaking the same language, but the ones sharing the same feelings understand each other.”
