Turkey has closed the airspace to Russia to Syria. Erdogan’s balancing act
Turkey has temporarily closed its airspace to Russian civilian and military aircraft bound for Syria. "We have closed the airspace for Russian military aircraft – and also for civilian aircraft – bound for Syria," Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said Saturday, according to Turkish media. Turkey granted quarterly transit permits to Syria, a very particular situation given Mosaca's ties with Syrian President Assad strongly opposed to Ankara. Now these permits have been stopped, Çavuşoğlu said.
The Turkish minister informed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov of the decision, who then forwarded it to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin then ordered the route to be stopped, Çavuşoğlu said during a flight to Uruguay, according to Turkish reporters. Çavuşoğlu added that the ban will last three months. This is one of Turkey 's toughest reactions to Russia' s war of aggression against Ukraine. Beware that we are talking about jets to Syria, not the rich traffic of Russian tourists to Turkey, which instead continues conspicuous and rich.
Ankara has also closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Strait to Russian warships. Additionally, Turkey supports the Ukrainian military with the delivery of Turkish manufacturer Bayraktar's TB2 combat drone, which is said to have a major influence on the course of the war. It is currently trying to maintain good relations with both Moscow and Kiev and, as we know, it has also been the site of very intense negotiations between the two sides, which have not ended positively. However, according to the Turkish foreign minister, Moscow and Kiev are working on a "draft joint declaration".
Turkey is in a very particular position, as an equilibrist: it opposes Assad in Syria, on the verge of military conflict, when he is supported by Moscow. He actively supported Azerbaijan in the war against Armenia, close to Moscow, in the war for Nagorno-Karabakh, now he plays on a tightrope between NATO, of which he is a member, and Moscow, from which he receives gas, tourists and military supplies. A median position that focuses on its interests in the Middle East and beyond.
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The article Turkey has closed the airspace to Russia to Syria. Erdogan's balancing act comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-turchia-ha-chiuso-lo-spazio-aereo-alla-russia-verso-la-siria-lequilibrismo-di-erdogan/ on Sun, 24 Apr 2022 08:00:02 +0000.