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Türkiye’s political opposition – which is ineffective in domestic policy – and the superior mind’s perception and agenda-setting efforts to manipulate the public intensifies, as the world continues to heap praise on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Erdoğan’s Türkiye. Former Spanish foreign minister, member of the Spanish parliament, senior vice president, and general counsel of the World Bank, and visiting lecturer at Georgetown University, Ana Palacio’s analysis of President Erdoğan published last week on a popular opinion website, is an important article about how the foreign world views Türkiye.
In her article titled, “Erdoğan the Diplomat?” Palacio writes:
“A ship loaded with grain has departed from a Ukrainian port. The shipment – the first to leave the country in months – was made possible by a recent agreement between Russia and Ukraine that was brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations. For people in Africa and the Middle East, the deal offers a glimmer of hope that severe food shortages will soon ease. For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it is a diplomatic victory – and far from his first.
“Erdoğan has been making progress in mending fences with the Gulf monarchies, after a decade of strained relations. And while the grain deal’s survival is far from guaranteed – Russia launched missile strikes on the port city of Odessa the day after the agreement was signed in Istanbul – it has already cemented Türkiye’s position as a regional power broker.”
It is only after this that Palacio reveals her real hard-hitting analysis:
“Erdoğan’s diplomatic success reflects his ability to find space for collaboration within apparently adversarial relationships. Notably, Russia and Türkiye – bound by deep economic and industrial ties – have maintained a reasonably effective dialogue, even as they have supported opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria, Libya, and, indirectly, Nagorno-Karabakh. When Ukraine and Russia were negotiating their grain deal, Ukrainian forces were using Turkish drones to counter Russian attacks.”
“Erdoğan might be holding a weak hand, but he is playing it skillfully. In fact, few leaders have managed to use today’s geopolitical tensions to their advantage as effectively as he has. Selective cooperation with Putin, in particular, has brought significant dividends for Türkiye’s leader, who is eager to rewrite the rules of the game in his favor.
“[…] Türkiye’s allies might be rattled by Erdoğan’s pragmatic gamesmanship, but pragmatism, together with creative thinking, will be essential to enable substantive cooperation in the current international environment.”
In her closing paragraph, Palacio says, “As the West seeks to stem the erosion of the rules-based order, Erdoğan might be an example worth learning from. If the West can use those lessons to revive relations with Türkiye itself, he might also be a useful stopgap.”
This closing paragraph is, above all, telling. If we were to analyze Palacio’s conclusion, first, she is asserting that Europe or the West is aware the hegemony it formed through its own rules/impositions is eroding, in other words, it (their established order) is no longer emerging; they surpassed the stagnation period and are now in recession. Second, she is implying that the recession period may be set back by learning from Erdoğan. Third, she is suggesting that the West should revive relations with Türkiye by taking lessons from Ankara’s strategic steps. This is a concrete declaration that Erdoğan transformed Türkiye from a passive country into an active one.
Fourth, she annotates the convergence between the West and Türkiye as a “stopgap!” In other words, the West wants to keep Türkiye waiting at the EU’s doorstep as a passive country, as it has been for years. Nothing other than this is in question for them! Hence, the convergence can only be temporary and conjunctural! It cannot be real!
Palacio’s suggestion to follow Erdoğan’s example clearly shows that she still doesn’t understand Erdoğan well enough. The authority Erdoğan achieved as a result of his honesty and transparency is a weapon the West does not have. Such is incompatible with their diplomatic character as well! The regard Erdoğan has gained in all the regions he reached is the result of the sincerity of his actions being perceived by his interlocutors.
Such bonds of affection can be felt, but they cannot be imitated.