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Very economically linked to Russia but an ally of Ukraine and a member of NATO, Ankara plays a perilous balancing act. With, in sight, the defense of its own interests.
While the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, Turkey, which voted in favor, is engaging in a complex diplomatic game. Eager not to sever its ties with its powerful Russian ally but also to strengthen its positions in the West, Turkey seems however to have chosen the Ukrainian camp and is seeking to take advantage of the conflict to apply for membership of the European Union.
After days of procrastination, President Erdogan decided on Monday to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to all military buildings. A closure called loudly by Ukraine, which breaks the illusory neutrality that Turkey had until then professed. In application of the Montreux Convention, signed in 1936, the two canals are governed by Turkey, which has the right, in the event of conflict, to prohibit the passage of warships. Making the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, in a way, the locks of the war.
At the beginning of the week, Ankara thus refused access to three Russian military buildings which were not registered in the Black Sea. Closed late to the taste of Kyiv (Kiev), the lock has its limits, however, Moscow having already deployed reinforcements for several weeks…