The difficult economic situation in Turkey is forcing President Erdogan to balance the demands of Western countries and relations with Russia.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Japan Serhiy Korsunsky, who previously headed the diplomatic corps in Turkey, believes that the current authorities of this country will not dare to break off relations with Russia abruptly and will not join Western sanctions in the near future. He spoke about this in an interview with TSN.ua.
“Being the ambassador to Turkey and after that, I observed the uniqueness of Erdogan as a politician who knows how to bypass sharp corners and create configurations that are unthinkable at first glance. Today he is trying to solve many problems that partially do not coincide with our vision of the situation,†the Ukrainian diplomat said.
At the same time, Sergei Korsunsky stressed that the European Union remains Turkey's main trading partner, and the United States remains NATO's main force, while Turkey will not leave the Alliance under any circumstances.
"Sanctions are a different matter, the economic situation in Turkey is tough, and there are elections soon when politicians always resolve their internal issues," the diplomat stressed.
He does not foresee a situation where Erdogan, under such conditions, decides to sharply aggravate the country by imposing sanctions against Russia.
Korsunsky explains this by saying that Russian tourists are a significant source of income for Turkish resorts, and, in addition, Russians have bought up a large amount of real estate in this country.
Therefore, in his opinion, Turkey for the time being, will try to maintain a balance, calling for negotiations in strange formats and realizing that there will be no dialogue.
Serhiy Korsunsky does not see such a development of events in which Turkey will impose sanctions against Russia. Those Western partners who will push this issue will probably be explained that the economic situation in Turkey is complicated, the local currency is devaluing and it is necessary to keep the situation stable in the country.
Since the destabilization of one of the leading countries involved in the so-called "Ukrainian issue" is not needed by Western countries, Erdogan's behavior will be tolerated so as not to change the existing balance of power drastically.
"Let's hope that Turkey will take a constructive position - that is, non-recognition of any annexations and help us with the same "bayraktars". But we must understand that, most likely, it will not break off relations with Russia and will not impose sanctions," he concluded diplomat.
