NATO footprint in Ankara's actions does not add her allies in Eurasia
Ankara, looks like, found a way to recoup her almost one and a half billion dollars, paid to the United States for the supply 100 F-35 fifth-generation multirole fighter-bombers, but never received them. Last week, representatives of the Turkish and US defense ministries met in Washington to discuss Turkey's proposals to purchase an additional number of F-16s and to modernize its existing fighters of this type at the expense of, paid to the Americans as part of the F-35 fighter procurement program. Company Lockheed Martin excluded Turkey from the list of participants in the F-35 project last year, but Turkish enterprises still continue to produce components for this aircraft. Türkiye is "guilty" of those, that acquired Russian S-400 air defense systems. Now Ankara offers to compensate the deal by transferring F-16 fighter jets to it.
Ankara is rearming because, that China's "Belt and Road" is laying footholds in the new Great Game, and Turkey still fails to join the ranks of political heavyweights. Turkish President, unceremoniously, spurs the banks, demanding lower interest on loans, despite the fact that over the past two months they have already decreased by 300 basis points, undermining the lyre, accelerating inflation and spurring a real estate boom. Erdogan believes, that the business immediately shifts the increase in the credit rate to the price of the goods, and it is so. However, his credo "I will fight against the rise in interest rates of banks until then, as long as I'm president" in October alone spurred inflation by 20 percent. Still, cheap money is an insidious thing..
Meanwhile, the illusions of the growth of Turkey's international prestige affect the multidirectional nature of its actions in international politics.. Recently, Erdogan defiantly rejected the demand of French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw Turkish mercenaries from Libya without delay.. “We are there as a force to maintain stability and help the Libyan people, and our priority is, regarding security, It is, to help the Libyans create their unified Libyan National Army", - sounded from Ankara.
The demonstrative disregard for France and Europe in general contrasts markedly with the manner, in which Erdogan spoke in a telephone conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The Turkish President diligently emphasized the importance of relations between the two countries for security in the Middle East and noted, that "disagreements can be kept to a minimum". A rare case for the leaders of the two countries, not in contact with 2013 of the year, and before that, a few hours before the call, Erdogan releases Israeli couple Mordi and Natalie Oknin, arrested in Istanbul "for espionage" (they photographed the residence of the Turkish president from the window of their hotel).
And then the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran, Israel's main enemy, discussed a roadmap for supporting bilateral ties and preparing for Erdogan's visit to Tehran., having agreed to work together to remove barriers to trade, energy, environmental and consular relations.
How successful are these abrupt movements of Ankara's diplomatic machine? Here it is necessary to pay attention to some aspects of what is happening in a large area from the Transcaucasus to Central Asia.. writes Asia Times, Iran, becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), got the opportunity to significantly expand ties with the Eurasian Economic Union, uniting Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. This also strengthens the military, and food security of Iran. Turkey stays away.
Further. Transport routes of the Trans-Caspian Corridor from Xinjiang to Eastern Europe are being developed. This includes such an association, as Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, five Central Asian states, Afghanistan). And again without Turkey.
Further. The Caspian has become a major crossroads, connecting Central Asia, South Caucasus, Western Asia, northern and southern Eurasia. China's Belt and Road Initiative covers Central Asian countries as far as Iran, which is now linked to China by a long-term energy agreement. Freight trains to the center of Europe are already running from China via the Trans-Siberian Railway, transporting German cars to the east, and to the west laptops and printers Foxconn and HP, made in Chongqing.
And there is also the North-South International Transport Corridor, passing through Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan and India. And again without Turkey. New Delhi and Tehran have already decided, that this corridor will pass through Armenia, and not through Erdogan's allied Azerbaijan.
New markets emerge in Asia's reshaping, communication, Union, partnerships around Turkey, but not with her. Hence the increased foreign policy activity of Ankara, proving its importance to everyone. And it's not easy to prove. Not least because, that at the beginning of the year, NATO handed over command of its very high readiness strategic Joint Task Force to Turkey. And NATO's footprint in Ankara's actions does not add her allies in Eurasia.
The title photo: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Elena PUSTOVOYTOVA
