Turkey is balancing between East and West, deftly maneuvering and trying to get benefits everywhere, political analyst Gokan Batsik said in an interview with iROZHLAS. The country is a member of NATO, but at the same time it actively cooperates with Russia. Ankara cannot do without its raw materials. It is the most profitable, and there is no money in the country.
Turkey is balancing between East and West, and not only in a geographical sense. Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, but at the same time it actively cooperates with Russia. According to Turkish political scientist Gokan Batsik from Palacki University in Olomouc, Turkey is trying to squeeze the most out of crises, for example, from the current Russian-Ukrainian one. Nevertheless, Ankara sees borders that cannot be crossed, as the Turkish political scientist notes in an interview with iROZHLAS.
iROZHLAS: What is the purpose of Turkish foreign policy?
Gokan Batsik: Turkey should be viewed in a broad context and take into account that the country is changing its own identity. In the past, Turkey was a secular country based on the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Now it is gradually moving towards an ideology that is not easy to explain, but perhaps we can say that Turkey is turning into a post-secular state and Islam is entering the state culture.
I am not saying that Turkey will turn into a state with Sharia law, but the country is changing. It is from this point of view that we should consider Turkish foreign policy. In general, anti-Western sentiments are spreading, and Turkish elites are not happy with the international system. Thus, revisionism is gaining momentum.
But Turkey also understands that its status does not allow it to do whatever it wants. It cannot completely isolate itself, because it is in dire need of an international system to solve perhaps the most pressing problem — to combat the economic crisis. Therefore, Turkey is trying to maintain a balance between its ideology and reality.
— What is Turkey's place in the international system? On the one hand, it holds on to some issues in Europe and the West, and on the other hand, it buys Russian gas and negotiates the construction of nuclear power plants with Russian companies.
— The situation is complicated. Difficulties due to the lack of cheap Russian gas have arisen in many European countries. In any case, Turkey depends on Russian raw materials, including agricultural ones. In this sense, it cannot do without Russia, because Turkey cannot replace Russian gas — there is no money for it. This partly explains Turkey's position. She balances and tacks.
She did the same during the Second World War. The Turks declared war on Nazi Germany only at the end of the entire conflict. And the current crisis around Ukraine is not new for Turkey. Ankara continues to balance. This is explained by the fact that Turkey is essentially a "hybrid" state, because it combines a Western and eastern approach, and its course depends on which one outweighs.
In general, Turkey is trying to benefit from the crisis. Therefore, for example, it will never recognize Russian claims to Crimea, and at the same time, unless some radical changes happen, Turkey will never become as anti-Russian as, for example, the Czech Republic.
— What kind of relations does Turkey have with Russia in general?
— The relations between these two countries have always been specific. It is enough to turn to history. There is no need to wait for a particularly close relationship between them. Turkey, Russia and, say, Iran are partners because they are authoritarian, pragmatic and critical of the West. But there are also disagreements between them, for example, because of Syria, where Turkey controls part of the territory, and many countries, including Iran and China, do not like it.
Russia would also object to Turkey, but now Moscow is being held back by the armed conflict in Ukraine. But in general, Turkish-Russian relations are rather negative, stormy, and Vladimir Putin knows this. (...) But in principle, Turkish-Russian relations, or rather, even cooperation, can be described as pragmatic.
— Who needs who more now?
— I would say that, apparently, Turkey and Russia need each other equally. But do not forget that Russia has a lot of ways to put pressure on Turkey. For example, with the help of Syria and the Kurds. If Turkey changes its attitude towards Russia, it will get into big problems, since the Turks control part of the Syrian territory, in general, with the consent of Russia. Therefore, it cannot be said that Turkey has significant autonomy in relations with Russia.
Russia is a big country with a big army, and Turkey is not a competitor to it. But from the point of view of pragmatic relations in the current world conditions, they probably need each other equally.
Author: Bara Vranova (Bára Vranova)
