Is Ankara Becoming New Geneva, Vienna? Where Those Who Disagree Come To Negotiate. Echoes Of East/West Berlin During The “Cold War”
Is Ankara Becoming New Geneva, Vienna? Where Those Who Disagree Come To Negotiate. Echoes Of East/West Berlin During The “Cold War”
During the 1950’s through the 1970’s, the cities of Vienna (Austria), Geneva (Switzerland), Berlin (East and West), Belgrade (Yugoslavia), and Istanbul (Turkey before Turkiye) were the preferred rendezvous locations for espionage, personnel exchanges (Glienicke Bridge (“Bridge of Spies”) in Berlin), and negotiations (both in public and out-of-sight).
In 2022, Ankara, the capital of the Republic of Turkiye, has joined with its largest city, Istanbul, to be the 21st Century destination-of-choice for diplomats, heads of state, heads of government, and representatives of the defense and intelligence communities for face-to-face encounters.
Both prior to and since the 24 February 2022 invasion and further invasion into the territory of Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, dialogue and negotiations (including the grain export initiative) amongst the primary antagonists, as well as, among representatives of governments, government bodies, and organizations with indirect, tangential, connectivity with the war in Ukraine have chosen Turkiye for those interactions.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkiye, is the only head of state who maintains consistent contact (in person, telephone, video conference) with both Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
The continuing, and expanding commercial, economic, and political engagement by Turkiye with the Russian Federation remains of concern for Ukraine and other countries, particularly the United States. However, except for Ukraine, other governments are loath to disrupt the relationship, including a dramatically expanding bilateral commercial (exports, imports, tourism) marketplace between Turkiye and the Russian Federation so long as the relationship remains perceived as providing value in terms of narrowing issues between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
Helpful to these efforts is the continuing operation of Turkish Airlines flights to and from Istanbul Airport (IST) to Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) in Moscow, Russian Federation. Moscow-based Aeroflot also services IST.
In addition, President Erdogan has crafted a role as the facilitator for dialogue among other foes. For example, the visit with Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, and Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, in October 2022 at the launch of the “European Political Community” summit in Prague, Czech Republic.
As pressure increases for the war landscape to change- ceasefire, armistice, peace treaty, due to escalating costs to the governments- their taxpayers who are being asked to borrow funds to provide support to the government of Ukraine, and the political challenges for companies that continue to import non-humanitarian commodities from the Russian Federation, other countries are seeking to create an option to Turkiye as a mediator, facilitator- United Arab Emirates (UAE) which had a role in prisoner exchanges, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which also had a role in prisoner exchanges.
President Erdogan has invested heavily in crafting a mediatory and facilitator role for Turkiye with respect to the Russian Federation and Ukraine among other countries. He will work mightily to retain that role. When President Putin and President Zelensky meet, President Erdogan expects to be their host.
