The 24th Summit of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is being held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. He met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Putin, who came to Astana to attend the summit. During the one hour and eight minute meeting, the two countries’ relations, the Ukraine-Russia war, Israel’s attack on Palestine, the search for a solution to the Syrian issue, and the fight against terrorism were discussed.
The following is a statement from Demiroren Media TV Group CEO Yangju regarding the meeting held in Astana:
What was discussed during your meeting with President Putin?
The eyes of the world were here. He was present at the meeting between Putin and Erdogan. Erdogan is the only NATO leader who can meet with Putin. Since we arrived, we have seen a lot of respect and interest in Erdogan. They delivered an important message especially about the Russia-Ukraine war. President Erdogan made a statement that Turkey could be a mediator.
Regarding trade and tourism, the point of increasing trade from $55 billion to $100 billion was discussed. There is a desire to cooperate on the issue of nuclear power plants, especially on the Sinop issue. Was the Assad issue raised? Yes, it did. Some parts of the meeting were reflected in the reports, and some were not. After the meeting, we met with the President. He was in a very good mood and in good spirits. We had a chance to speak with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. We spoke with the Chief of Staff of the President for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, Mr. Akif Çahtay Kılıç. According to the impression we got from them, great results have been achieved. Today’s meeting was incredibly positive.
Will there be a meeting with Assad?
President Erdogan also said that he can meet with President Assad, so the public is expecting this, but it is not clear from this statement, and the other interlocutor must be in the same position. My impression is that there is no specific date at the moment. This is my comment. Here, Russia and Iran do not seem very keen on Turkish President Erdogan facing President Assad to resolve the issue. After all, they want to continue their role as big brothers. If one-on-one meetings with Assad begin, Russia will step back a little, but as long as things remain stable, I think Russia will also continue to be an actor vis-a-vis Turkey.
“Even if there are no face-to-face meetings, telephone diplomacy will continue.”
Everyone has different interests. Some of our interests are compatible with Russia, some with Iran, but in some places they are not. We will work with countries in line with our interests, but this is a process that will have to wait. President Putin said he will come to Turkey. We can see that Turkiye and Russia are willing to get closer in the coming period. President Erdogan invited President Putin, and President Putin said he will come. It was said to be telephone diplomacy. There have been no face-to-face meetings, but telephone diplomacy continues. I have said this from the beginning.
Erdogan is the only NATO leader willing to hold frank talks with Putin.
President Erdogan is the only NATO member state leader who can have a positive and open dialogue with President Putin. In this way, many problems have been resolved. The grain crisis was resolved through President Erdogan’s initiative. You know there is always a “3”. “Will there be a world war?” is what is being said. Meanwhile, tensions in the Gaza Strip have not decreased. The same goes for tensions between Russia and Ukraine. This is just my impression, but Russia seems to be a little closer to peace on the Ukrainian issue and is willing to mediate with Turkey. President Erdogan said, “We are ready for that. Let’s see what happens there.”
