Türkiye’s statements on peacekeepers attempts to strengthen own influence

The opinion was shared by Ukrainian scholar Mykhailo Yakubovych, who spoke in a comment to Ukrinform.

“Türkiye seeks to remain a key partner of all powerful geopolitical actors in order to maintain its influence and put forward certain demands of its own. This is a policy that Erdogan has long been pursuing, and along with Turkish ‘soft power’ in terms of relations with other countries, it has already yielded results in many respects,” he said.

Türkiye traditionally positions itself not only as a mediator, but also as a powerful actor, the expert adds, noting that the country’s authorities are trying to show that they play a major role in important negotiations and are making relevant statements, such as supporting Ukraine on the issue of joining NATO or deploying peacekeeping troops.

” Türkiye has long been integrated into the Western security system (it has been a NATO Ally since 1952, almost since the founding of the Alliance), and this allows them to play on this front as well. Speaking about a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, the Turks are demonstrating their military influence,” explained Yakubovych.

According to the expert, the Turkish army surpasses the armies of many Western European nations in terms of its potential and combat capability, as it enjoys substantial investments, being well trained and constantly on alert. But Ukraine is unlikely to receive real security guarantees from Türkiye, the pundit opines.

“By and large, they don’t care about our processes, it’s just to make it seem like the Turks are part of a big game,” Yakubovych noted.

As reported, last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that Türkiye is not against Ukraine joining NATO. Bloomberg also reported that Türkiye would be ready to send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force. President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the issue of a peacekeeping mission with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a recent visit to Ankara. On March 2, Fidan took part in an emergency summit on the situation in Ukraine in London.