Erdogan backs out of anti-Russia European summit in Moldova: Politico

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Politico
31 May 2023 19:22

Politico says Erdogan was scheduled to attend the summit, which is considered a demonstration of support against Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Reuters)

Re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed out at the last minute and will not head to Moldova on Thursday for the so-called European Political Community (EPC), Politico reported on Wednesday, citing three sources familiar with the preparations.

According to the newspaper, the EPC is a new initiative formed in the aftermath of the Ukraine war that aims to bring together European politicians outside the European Union.

It pointed out that Erdogan was scheduled to attend the summit, which is considered a demonstration of support against Russia.

Politico mentioned that more than 40 European leaders, including those from all 27 EU countries, as well as non-EU countries such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Western Balkan republics, will attend the one-day summit on Thursday.

Scheduled to take place outside Chisinau, Moldova's capital, the meeting is the EPC's second, following an initial meeting in Prague in October 2022.

It is noteworthy that Erdogan attended the summit in Prague but had a heated exchange with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, at the end-of-summit event.

In the same context, a report published by the BBC highlighted that under Erdogan's administration, Turkey has indeed maintained a distinguished position from its NATO member-state peers.

While NATO, along with the EU, has imposed extensive sanctions against Russia and minimized its oil and gas imports from Moscow, Turkey adopted a less vehement strategy toward Russia, refusing to "ostracize" the Kremlin, as the report put it.

It also indicated that Turkey has adopted a pragmatic policy in regard to the war in Ukraine. Since the war broke out, trade between Turkey and Russia has significantly increased. However, Turkey has also been simultaneously selling weapons to Ukraine, the report noted.

According to the BBC report, Erdogan's pragmatism in regard to Ukraine is in line with his general policy of developing transactional relationships with all his allies in an effort to "make Turkey great again."

This comes a couple of days after Turkey's Supreme Election Council chief Ahmet Yener announced that Erdogan won the presidential runoff with 52.14% of the vote, while his opposition opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu received 47.86%.

On May 14, no presidential candidate ensured 50%+1 of the vote in the first round of the elections.