Russian political scientist: Turkey`s support for Ukraine is evidence  of Russia`s geopolitical surroundings

ArmInfo. I regard the support  recently expressed by Turkish President Erdogan to his Ukrainian  counterpart Vladimir Zelensky as another confirmation of his  intentions and evidence of Russia's geopolitical encirclement. A  similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by  political scientist  Arkady Dubnov.

Following last month's three-hour talks between Erdogan and Zelensky  in Istanbul, the Turkish president supported the prospects for  Ukraine's membership in NATO, expressing his readiness to provide any  assistance. Erdogan also promised that he would never recognize the  annexation of Crimea, supporting the "Crimean Platform" with which  Kiev plans to unite the efforts of the world community around the  issue of the peninsula's ownership. The joint declaration signed  after the talks consists of 20 points and is aimed at further  strengthening relations between Kiev and Ankara.

The political scientist primarily links such pronounced support of  Erdogan to Ukraine with the observed escalation of tension in the  south-east of Ukraine. According to him, having demonstrated last  fall that it is not going to concede to Russia in the South Caucasus,  today Erdogan has clearly demonstrated to Putin that Turkey is a  serious geopolitical player both in the south of Europe and in the  Black Sea-Caspian basin.  According to the political scientist,  Erdogan's Istanbul statements are part of his desire to demonstrate  and present his country as the largest regional power. In this light,  Dubnov recalled that Turkey has recently once again demonstrated its  importance as the owner of the Black Sea Straits, allowing NATO  warships to enter the Black Sea. And very soon, two more American  warships should pass through the Bosphorus.  Another important  article of Turkish support for Ukraine and Kiev's plans for the  south-east, the political scientist considers the supply of Turkish  Bayraktar TB2 drones to Ukraine. Dubnov attaches importance to these  deliveries, taking into account the effectiveness demonstrated by the  UAV data during the same last year's war in Karabakh. The  manufacturer has already confirmed the sale of "bayraktars" to  Ukraine, whose aircraft have already used the novelty in the  south-east of the country.

Moscow, in Dubnov's opinion, has so far responded to this whole set  of steps by Ankara with another response "in the spirit of  Onishchenko". According to Russian media, already today, on April 12,  "due to the sharp aggravation of the situation with the coronavirus,"  a decision is expected to be made on limiting air traffic with Turkey  for a month. According to the Russian political scientist, the same  decisions to restrict tourism to Turkey, as well as periodic bans on  the import of the same Azerbaijani tomatoes, are never taken solely  for the purpose of caring for the health of Russians. And they are  usually always based on political motivation.