On 27 October 2022. the European Leadership Network (ELN) convened the Contact Group on Russia-West relations via Zoom to discuss Turkey’s positioning on the war in Ukraine and resulting foreign policy relations.
In some western circles, there has been a question mark over Turkey’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine, writes Ambassador Tacan Ildem. Here he outlines the long history of Turkish-Russian relations, and how Turkey’s policy on Ukraine today is a balancing act informed by the geopolitics of the region.
The South Caucasus is a strategically significant part of the world — but the West’s presence in the region seems to be gradually eroding. Daniel Shapiro provides suggestions regarding areas in which Western countries can re-engage.
Turkey and the UK have great potential to strengthen their defence and security cooperation following their recent free trade agreement, write Tacan Ildem and Fatih Ceylan. To take this forward, they should elaborate a Joint Vision Paper (JVP) on enhanced Turkey-UK defence cooperation, to be shared within NATO.
Brexit incentivises the discussions about the role of the non-EU NATO members – including Turkey – in European defence and security, argue Ambassadors Fatih Ceylan and Tacan Ildem. They write that a process of developing a new transatlantic compact could be launched at the upcoming NATO Summit.
The resumption of exploratory talks between Greece and Turkey over the East Med is an important opportunity to de-escalate tensions, writes Christian Schultheiss. Concrete steps are required to build confidence, including practical deconfliction measures building on NATO’s Greece-Turkey hotline and a clarification of Turkey’s position regarding Greece’s maritime entitlements.