Turkish President Strengthens Ties With Ukraine, Breaks Ties With Russia

President Erdogan’s announcement of support for Ukraine comes as a sharp turn from his tacit alliance with Russia’s President Putin. (en.kremlin.ru)

“Glory to Ukraine!” declared Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 3 as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a visit to Kiev. In talks with Zelensky and in the news conference that followed, Erdogan made his support for Ukraine clear and pledged military and humanitarian aid and stronger economic ties with the country in its struggle against Russia over Crimea.

Erdogan promised an aid package of $200 million toward the Ukrainian army in an effort to help the country fight against Russia’s annexation. The two countries also agreed to boost their defense cooperation, possibly engaging in joint production to export to other countries. 

Addressing the humanitarian crisis in Crimea, Erdogan also announced that Turkey would help build housing for Crimean families who were forced to relocate to mainland Ukraine due to the annexation in 2014. Many of the families that relocated are Crimean Tatars, a Turkic ethnic group. The effort is not only geopolitical but also an extension of Erdogan’s project of connecting to the Turkic diaspora. 

The two countries also pledged to strengthen their economic relationship. According to Erdogan, the Turkish contracting sector has signed 184 projects with Ukraine—projects worth billions of dollars. The two countries discussed the possibility of a natural gas pipeline from Ukraine to Turkey through the Caspian Sea. They also planned to increase bilateral trade, boosting investment and tourism. 

The timing of Erdogan’s push to cozy up to Ukraine is not a coincidence, as Turkey’s relationship with Russia is at a low point. Lebanese media outlet Al-Akhbar reported that Erdogan’s aid to Ukraine is retaliation against the killing of Turkish soldiers by Russian-backed Syrian forces in Idlib, which occurred earlier in the month. 

The situation between Russian and Turkish military forces in Syria has escalated. After the deaths of the Turkish soldiers, Ankara accused Moscow of underplaying its involvement in the Syrian attack. Erdogan, reacting to the attack, resolved to "strike regime forces everywhere from now on regardless of the Sochi deal if any tiny bit of harm comes to our soldiers at observation posts or elsewhere." 

Moscow rejects the claim that Russia was involved in the deaths of the Turkish soldiers and responded by accusing Ankara of failing to deliver on a vow to subdue militants in Idlib. “The real reason for the crisis in the Idlib de-escalation zone unfortunately is the non-fulfilment by our Turkish colleagues of their undertakings to separate moderate opposition militants from terrorists,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. 

As the longstanding conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, it shows its face in unlikely places and in civil wars far away.