“Our goal is to continue the momentum gained despite the difficulties in the field and to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible,” Erdoğan said on Thursday in the opening speech at the CICA leaders’ table.
The president said that Türkiye’s intensive efforts with the United Nations and the warring parties to curb the negative effects of the conflict have been appreciated by the entire world.
He underlined that the Istanbul grain deal reached in July and the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine in September are both “tangible achievements” in this direction.
Later on Thursday, Erdoğan is set to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss recent developments and the ongoing war.
Russia believes Erdoğan will “officially” offer to mediate between the sides at the meeting with Putin in Kazakhstan, a Kremlin aide said Wednesday.
“The Turks are offering their mediation. If any talks take place, then most likely they will be on their territory: Istanbul or Ankara,” Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.
“Erdoğan will probably propose something officially” during talks with Putin in Astana on Thursday, Ushakov added.
Türkiye has been in close contact with both Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Erdoğan has repeatedly stressed his wish to bring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together at a negotiating table in Türkiye to end the war.
“I say that a just peace can be achieved through diplomacy, that there will be no winners in war and no losers in a just peace,” Erdoğan said.
Türkiye on Tuesday called for a cease-fire in Ukraine just days ahead of the meeting between Putin and Erdoğan, who share a good working relationship despite disagreements on several issues including in Syria.
NATO member Türkiye, which has stayed neutral throughout the conflict in Ukraine, also has good ties with Kyiv.
But increasing Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities are further diminishing the chances for a diplomatic solution which Ankara has advocated for since the war began in February.
“Unfortunately (both sides) have quickly moved away from diplomacy” since the talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul in March, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a televised interview on Tuesday.
“As the Ukraine-Russian war drags on, unfortunately, the situation gets worse and more complicated,” added the Turkish diplomat, who called for an immediate cease-fire.
“A cease-fire must be established as soon as possible. The sooner the better,” he said.
The Kremlin confirmed that Putin will meet Erdoğan in Astana on Thursday.
“Preparations are underway for the meeting,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The talks will be an opportunity to discuss the situation in “Ukraine, bilateral ties and exchange views on current issues,” he said.
Türkiye has refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia.
Erdoğan, who met Putin on the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan last month, is keen to boost trade with Moscow as he tries to stabilize the Turkish economy in the run-up to elections next June.
During the interview on Tuesday, Çavuşoğlu called for a “just peace” based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“There must be a just peace for Ukraine. Where is the war going on? It’s going on on Ukrainian soil,” he said.
“A process that will ensure Ukraine’s border and territorial integrity should start. Without a cease-fire, it is not possible to talk about those issues in a healthy way: a viable cease-fire and a just peace.”
Türkiye has labeled Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian provinces a “grave violation” of international law and called for negotiations to end the conflict.
Highlighting the importance of the summit in Astana, Erdoğan said: “Today’s Astana summit will go down in history as the summit where the conference turned into an international organization. We are going through a period in which the balances in the world have changed and we face serious tests in many fields. Threats such as Islamophobia and xenophobia are added to this. The structure that cares about the happiness of a handful of minorities who ignore the overwhelming majority of the world’s population still remains. It should be shaped by a new understanding that is just and equitable.”
“Wherever we are in the world, we all share the same fate as part of the great human family. The pandemic has reminded us of this fact once again. Just as our problems are common, we must seek and find our solutions together,” he added.
Cutting off terrorists’ financial resources
Erdoğan also stressed that terrorist groups continue to threaten the world as he decried that the leaders of the PKK terrorist organization, Daesh and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) – the group behind the defeated 2016 coup in Türkiye – continue to get support.
“The entities that help terrorist groups and take part in propaganda financing, and recruiting activities should be blocked with no discrimination,” he underlined.
The president also touched upon the recent terror incidents in Afghanistan in his speech and he called on the leaders to support Afghanistan.
Erdoğan said Türkiye believes the global security architecture should be designed with a more just, equitable and representative understanding, adding that Ankara promotes multi-mode transport routes and supports reviving the Silk Road linking Asia and Europe.
“Today’s Astana summit will go down in history as the summit where the process of the conference’s transition into an international organization is proclaimed,” he stressed.
Source:dailysabah.com