Olaf Scholz with Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Ankara Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have jointly called for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war. “We are completely in agreement that there must be a ceasefire as soon as possible,” said Scholz on Monday during his first visit to Turkey. There must also be safe corridors for civilians immediately.
Erdogan emphasized: “We will continue to strive for a permanent ceasefire.” There was agreement that diplomatic efforts must be continued.
Together, Scholz and Erdogan appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Hold on.”
It was clear, said Scholz: “With every day, with every bomb, Russia is moving further away from the circle of the world community that we form together.” The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine are beyond question.
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The fact that Scholz is coming to Turkey right now is a sign of how bilateral relations with states that are considered autocracies in the West are changing. For example, the US has started talks with Venezuela, despite the country currently being sanctioned. But oil from the South American country could fill the void left by a potential embargo on Russia.
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The fact that many heads of state and government are now looking for closeness to Erdogan is also due to Turkey’s current policy on Russia. Turkey had established itself as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict.
The NATO country has close ties to Ukraine and Russia, and Turkey borders both countries in the Black Sea. Erdogan has repeatedly emphasized that he does not want to give up either partner and last week brought them together at foreign minister level for the first time since the beginning of the war.
An attitude that would be unthinkable in the West, given the social pressure. But the motto in Turkey is: You have to be able to afford sanctions. And in Turkey, where inflation is over 50 percent and more than six million tourists from Ukraine and Russia travel to Turkey every year, the following motto applies: sanctions would initially harm Turks in particular.
Meeting under the sign of war
And so Erdogan tried to bring both warring parties together. With success: On Thursday, the chief diplomats Dmitro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov met in the southern Turkish seaside resort of Antalya.
The talks remained largely unsuccessful. The fact that they took place at all was viewed as a diplomatic success not only by Turkey itself, but also by Western allies.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the way to difficult talks.
(Photo: dpa)
Even before Scholz’s first visit, observers had assumed that it would be dominated by the Ukraine war. After Scholz had initially laid a wreath alone at the mausoleum for the founder of the state Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, he was received by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with military honors at his official residence. After a one-to-one conversation, both appeared before the press, followed by dinner. Scholz travels back to Berlin on Monday evening.
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Scholz emphasized that cooperation with Turkey would be expanded in many areas, for example on energy issues or an update to the customs union. However, human rights and the rule of law as well as cases of imprisonment of German nationals in Turkey were also discussed.
Where other top German politicians have insisted on a quick solution, Scholz’s comment was more sober: “We hope for a quick solution and have talked about it.” Similar to the case of Deutsche Welle, which claims to be threatened with censorship due to the obligation to apply for a broadcasting license. Scholz: “We also talked about that.” No less, but also no more.
It seemed as if the two heads of government wanted their first official meeting to take place in as constructive an atmosphere as possible. One possible sign: Turkey is currently too important to criticize.
More: The new Erdogan – from splitter to mediator?