You're reading: Ambassador: Turkey will stay strong in NATO, strong on Ukraine

Much has changed in Turkey, Ukraine’s southern Black Sea neighbor with 75 million people, since the failed July 15 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But, in an interview with the Kyiv Post this month, Turkey’s Ambassador to Ukraine Yonet C. Tezel wanted to emphasis what remains the same.

No change in course

Tezel said that, contrary to widespread speculation, Erdogan’s visit to see Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 9 did not signify that Turkey’s foreign policy “is changing course” by making an abrupt pro-Moscow shift.

He said Erdogan’s aim was simply to resume dialogue that was broken after Turkey on Nov. 24 shot down a Russian warplane that strayed into Turkish airspace from Syria, where Moscow is propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad, despite repeated warnings. Russia slapped on trade and travel sanctions against Turkey in retaliation, sending bilateral relations into a deep freeze.

The lack of contact helped no one, Tezel said. Since the thaw, Russian tourism has resumed to Turkey — accounting for three million visitors annually — and other trade ties appear set to return to a more normal footing.

“During the seven months that Turkey had this very problematic time with Russia, we were not anymore on speaking terms,” Tezel said. “And during these seven months, Turkey became the only NATO ally not to be speaking with Russia. That was an abnormality. It was wasn’t good for regional events or international issues.”

Does the resumed dialogue mean that Turkey will drop its opposition to Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s peninsula or end its criticism of Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine?

Crimea is part of Ukraine

“Of course not. Turkey will not recognize Crimea (as part of Russia). Of course not,” Tezel said. “Conditions have not changed, so Turkish policy will not change. If you want to know about Turkish policy, look at the NATO documents.”

NATO, whose 28 members include Turkey, has called on Russia to abide by a cease-fire, withdraw troops and weapons, return eastern border control to Ukraine and allow full access by international monitors. NATO — and Turkey — call on Russia to abide by the conditions of the Minsk peace agreements to end the war that has killed 10,000 people since 2014.

“Turkey’s position and the position of NATO and allies and others is: We stand firm against Russian actions which are not in line with international law, not in line with peace and stability, but at the same time keep a dialogue,” Tezel said. “We still have diffferencs over Ukraine, Crimea and Syria and other regional issues.”

As for Turkey’s policy towards Ukraine, the ambassador said that nothing has changed and nothing will change because “it is in Turkey’s interest that Ukraine is independent, sovereign, that Ukraine is united and that its territorial integrity is preserved.”

In fact, one of the recent bright spots in Turkish-Ukrainian relations is the 46 percent increase in the number of Ukrainians who visited Turkey in the first six months of the year. In a normal year, about 750,000 Ukrainians vacation in Turkey.

“Turkish-Ukraine relations have their own rationale,” Tezel said. “They do get affected by events. “The main directions were determined before the (Nov. 24) jet event.”

Turkey, however, will not support economic sanctions against Russia for several reasons, Tezel said, including the fact that some of its neighbors are frequently subject to sanctions — including Syria, Iraq and Iran. Joining in the sanctions “hurts us too,” he said. In any case, he said, much of Turkey’s trade with Russia involves importing natural gas.

The July 15 coup

A faction of Turkey’s armed forces attempted to seize power in a coup on July 15, but people rallied to Erdogan’s defense. More than 25 people were killed before the coup was put down and, Tezel said, Erdogan escaped a team of assassins by only 15 minutes. Since then, tens of thousands of people were detained — up to 80,000, according to some media reports — as investigators try to build criminal cases against those who instigated the coup attempt or participated in it.

Turkey says it has compelling and indisputable evidence that the uprising was organized by the Gülen movement, which is led by Fethullah Gülen, who has sought exile in the United States, where he has been living in the state of Pennsylvania since 1999.

Gulen has denied involvement and said he leads a non-violent Islamic movement, but Turkey considers his group to be terrorists and is seeking his extradition from the United States to stand trial in Turkey.

But the Gulen movement is active in 150 countries, with 1,300 schools across the world (including in Ukraine). It also has a bank and a newspaper. While followers present themselvs as moderates, Tezel said, Turkish investigators have uncovered a wealth of evidence showing that the followers planned to infiltrate Turkey’s government and seize power with force.

In that context, America’s harboring of Gulen has strained relations with its NATO ally. “There are people in Turkey who are not happy with how they think the U.S. is treating this issue,” Tezel said.

Many in Turkey, in fact, believe the United States was behind the coup, but Tezel does not. He also said there is no evidence of American participation and that he believes such a step would run counter to U.S. interests in maintaining Turkey’s stability.

Many in Turkey, however, were also stunned by the chilly Western reaction to the coup attempt.

Rather than rallying to Erdogan’s defense, many nations were slow in expressing support for the embattled Turkish government. The explanation lies in Western attitudes towards Erdogan, who is increasingly seen as an autocratic leader who is violating human rights and suppressing democracy. Some think he’s using the coup attempt to justify a harsher crackdown on critics.

The ability of Turkey to adhere to democratic standards and judicial fairness as it prosecutes suspects will be watched for months to come.

Tezel said that the standoffish response by some of Turkey’s allies was a mistake because the coup leaders, had they prevailed, would have created a repressive regime that would have posed a threat to Western interests. He said that Turkish citizens, including opposition parties, were protecting their democracy by thwarting the coup and coming out by the millions to rally in support of Erdogan.

Events since the Aug. 10 interview have proven Tezel right.

Erdogan on Aug. 20 reassured Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Turkey will not recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea.

The NATO member also showed its willingness to contribute to anti-terrorism operations with strikes in neighboring Syria on Aug. 24 to overtake an Islamic State stronghold. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also went to Turkey on Aug. 24 and met with Erdogan in a bid to defuse tensions over the Turkish president’s demands that the U.S. extradite Gulen.

Timothy Ash, an analyst for Nomura International, recently completed a trip to Turkey in which he concluded that the failed coup “seems to have brought the nation together, offering the prospect of a step back from polarization and new cooperation between the Erdogan administration and the opposition across a range of issues such as constitutional reform, and economic reform amongst others.”

Ash also said he doesn’t “ buy the line that Turkish NATO membership is under threat, or its Western orientation, which still remains the key anchor – Turkey is not going to pivot to Russia…”

If Tezel and Ash are correct, Ukrainians will be relieved.