Three results of the Ankara summit

The statement “A 60-year dream is coming true” is used in news when referring to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, the foundation of which was laid a few days ago.

In this case, it is possible to ask why it could not be done for 60 years.

We can list some reasons such as the lack of courage and vision, impossibility and narrow-mindedness.

However, the point of “purposefully hindering” it should be added to all these reasons.

As there is more than one nuclear power plant in almost all the countries which are put in the category of “developed” countries, we must think about why Turkey was not allowed to be a part of this.

It is also possible to see the question of why Turkey has remained/been left “bare” for decades in terms of air defense system in the same context.

As you notice, I have been discussing the subjects that have come to the fore in the last two days.

Even though the S-300 missiles were delivered to Iran in 10 years, and countries such as Pakistan and China have prior rights since they came to an agreement earlier, the delivery of the air defense system to Turkey was pulled from March 2020 to July 2019.

There can be two reasons why Turkey wants this delivery to be completed at an earlier date:

There is an urgent need to strengthen its air defense system.

To prevent the U.S. pressures telling Turkey to “give up on this” from extending over a longer term.

President Erdoğan said the followings to end speculations in a joint press conference that he held with Russian President Putin:

“We have completed the S-400 agreement. It is done.”

Putin’s statements, too, were enough to erase the question marks regarding the technology transfer.

He said: “When it comes to the joint production and export of technologies, this is not an issue of trust or political contacts. This is entirely an issue of business. This issue is brought to a resolution by companies. We don’t have a political or military attitude regarding it, nor is there an actual limitation.”

The decisions of the summit

After Turkey realized that it has been constantly cheated starting with the Obama administration, it gravitated towards a cooperation with Russia and Iran in Syria and accordingly, the Astana and Sochi processes started.

For Turkey, the fruits of this process were the Euphrates Shield and Afrin operations.

We can summarize the results of the summit held between Erdoğan, Putin and Rouhani in Ankara yesterday as follows:

1. Continuation of the works for the Syrian constitution by the delegations that were formed in Sochi,

2. The joint stance of preserving Syria’s territorial integrity

3. Rebuilding the infrastructure of Syria which experienced huge destructions due to the war and carrying out efforts for the return of refugees who left their homes.

Many regions in Syria went back to the Stone Age due to the seven-year civil war.

Of course, we cannot ignore the roles of Russia and Iran in the emergence of this situation.

As reflected in the press conference yesterday, it is a fact that Turkey is the one which is concerned most about the humanitarian side of the issue.

Upon the statement of Russian President Putin “There are new offers coming from Erdoğan,” we understood what those offers were from the statements of the Turkish president.

Meeting the emergency needs of and providing treatment for the people who were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta and building houses for those who will return back.

Let’s say a few words about the current positions of the three countries that attended the Ankara summit after four-and-a-half months.

The previous summit among the three leaders was held in Tehran on Nov. 22.

We can say that the process has worked in favor of Turkey since then.

Here is why:

Russia is facing new sanctions of the West after the spy crisis with England and it suffers seriously due to this.

As this clamp on Iran is getting sharper, it is experiencing a severe internal turbulence due to the economic and political crises.

For example, as USD 1 equalled 20.000 Iranian rials two to three years ago, this rate has reached 50.000 Iranian rials these days.

Especially unemployment and the chaos happening among conservative Iranians are forcing the Iran administration to pay more attention on its borders.

Turkey, on the other hand, attended the Ankara summit with the power gained through the Afrin victory, meaning that the value of Turkey for Russia and Iran, which face de facto sanctions of the Western bloc, has increased more compared to 4-5 months ago.