On March 9, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko started a two-day official visit to Turkey. Before the official talks, the head of state and his wife met with representatives of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities in Turkey. “One of the important items on the agenda of the talks I will hold with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will be the protection of rights of the Crimean Tatar people and coordination of our efforts to restore Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea,” the president said. He also stressed that he would use meeting at the parliament of Turkey to call for coordinated steps to secure recognition of the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars as the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people.
Poroshenko also informed his audience that the agenda of his talks with Turkish leaders involved security issues, including those relating to the Black Sea region, economic cooperation, and other issues. “We are very grateful to Turkey for its continued support for Ukrainian sovereignty and independence,” the head of state summed up. Let us recall that Davutoglu visited Ukraine on February 15, for the first time in his capacity as the head of the Turkish government, and described the relationship between the two countries as a “strategic alliance” during the press conference. In particular, he stressed that “Ukraine is for us not just a friendly country, but rather a strategic partner.”
Hurriyet columnist Emre Kizilkaya commented for The Day on the Turkish government’s expectations from the visit of the Ukrainian president: “From the Turkish side, no breakthrough is expected, but Poroshenko’s visit will surely cement closer links between Turkey and Ukraine. Defense deals, as well as economic agreements, are expected to be inked during the visit. Both countries are seeking new ways to form an alliance since Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated.”
“UKRAINE AND TURKEY MAY BE CONSIDERED STRATEGIC ALLIES”
Ihor SEMYVOLOS, executive director, Middle East Study Center:
“Two teams, I mean the Turkish and Ukrainian ones, created quite a lot of various positive developments over the past two months. I would even say they did more in this time than over years before that. During these months, there have been many breakthroughs and promising statements, including from the Turkish side, which we had not even hoped to hear. I believe that this visit will be very fruitful. We are approaching the state when Ukraine and Turkey would be considered not just strategic partners, but also strategic allies. To me, this is a great result, and we should strive to make it reality.
“Regarding the meeting of the Ukraine-Turkey Strategic High Level Council, our president will definitely return with a number of signed documents, both in economic and military areas. I think that agreements on military cooperation and economic cooperation will be concluded. These are key issues for us. Of course, we will hear political statements which, I hope, will strengthen the Ukrainian position. And on the other hand, Ukraine will show its solidarity with Turkey’s position on the Middle East.
“The progress in all the above-mentioned areas, which Ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine Yonet Can Tezel listed in an interview with The Day, will definitely take place, and it is obvious. I think Turkey needs the Ukrainian market now, although we understand that it cannot compensate for the loss of the Russian market. Even though our market is clearly not deep enough for Turkish goods, but nevertheless, even the Ukrainian market is quite promising for Turkey under the current conditions.”
ON POSSIBLE BREAKTHROUGHS IN THE MILITARY SPHERE
“Statements by the National Security and Defense Council’s Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov and our soldiers’ participation in Turkish military exercises and planning efforts as well as cooperation between our nations’ General Staffs make greater cooperation in this area quite likely. Turchynov’s talks with Secretary of Defense Industry of Turkey Ismail Demir, held at the end of February, were highly promising too. Let us recall that the negotiators from the two countries discussed the production of turbojet aircraft engines, tanks, armored vehicles, radar and communication systems. A consensus has been reached on the issue of joint projects for the development and manufacture of navigation systems. Let us see what agreements the president will bring back. He has to announce something in Ankara at least. Still, we can already confidently say that cooperation between the two countries can develop in many directions. Ukraine has much to offer Turkey.”
“...WE CAN STRENGTHEN OUR POLITICAL POSITION”
“Now to the Turkish Embassy in Kyiv’s slogan ‘More Turkey in Ukraine, more Ukraine in Turkey.’ For us, I mean the Ukrainian diplomacy, it is actually difficult to implement the second part of the slogan and strengthen our economic position in Turkey. But we can strengthen our political position. We have allies in Turkey, including the Tatar diaspora and many people who are sympathetic to Ukraine. It is clear that Ukraine needs to do more to promote its interests through the media and political parties. It should be noted that the Ukrainian embassy has been lately working more actively and increasing both contacts and exchange of ideas and thoughts. So, there are some improvements, but they are not sufficient to get Ukraine and its position better represented in Turkey.
“St. Nicholas Church, serving as the unofficial Ukrainian community center, opened recently in Istanbul next to the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s office. However, the decision on the matter was actually reached through informal agreements between the Ukrainian consul and the Church. Only when the shrine will officially become a Ukrainian church I will call it a real breakthrough. For now, we can say that this is a good signal that Ukrainian interests have begun to be taken into account on the Bosporus. Frankly, they were mostly ignored before.”
“THIS VISIT SYMBOLIZES HOW RAPIDLY THE RELATIONSHIP IS DEVELOPING”
Emre ERSEN, Doctor, Associate Professor, Deputy Head of Department of Political Science and International Relations at Marmara University:
“The high-level contacts between Turkey and Ukraine have become much more frequent following the deterioration of Turkish-Russian relations after Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet on November 24, 2015. For Turkey, Ukraine has always been a very important partner for the maintenance of stability in the Black Sea region. Therefore, it has continuously emphasized Ukraine’s territorial integrity even when it enjoyed very good political and economic relations with Moscow. It also did not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The visit of the Ukrainian president is very important in this regard because it symbolizes the rapidly developing political and economic relations between the two countries.
“Past month, Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu visited Kyiv and signed new agreements for economic cooperation. The two countries have also been stepping up their cooperation in the military sphere as indicated by the visit of Ukrainian Chief of General Staff to Ankara past month.
“In the upcoming session of the High-Level Cooperation Council, firstly new steps are expected to be taken for the establishment of a free trade zone between Turkey and Ukraine. Poroshenko and Erdogan will also probably use this as an important opportunity to announce their common concerns about the consequences of the Russian policies in Crimea, Donbas, and Syria. Overall, the strategic dimension of the Turkish-Ukrainian relations will be significantly strengthened by Poroshenko’s visit.”
