'Türkiye in position to share views between West, Russia'

ANKARA

Türkiye is in a position to be a link between Russia and the West to share views although the country was not given necessary credit for, a Turkish professor told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

"Although the West does not want to express this and not want to give credit to Türkiye, in the end, there is (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan as a person and a president, and there is Türkiye in a position to mutually share views, thoughts, and approaches between the West and Russia when necessary," said Mustafa Kibaroglu, the dean of Istanbul-based MEF University's Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences.

Kibaroglu's remarks came after Erdogan on Friday attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he met with fellow leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping.

En route to New York to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, Erdogan told reporters that the world leaders at the SCO summit appreciated Türkiye's role in de-escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Even while chatting a person in the Central Park on Saturday, Erdogan was hailed for his contribution to the grain corridor that helps ease global food crisis.

Stressing the importance of the grain corridor, Kibaroglu said: "Since the West did not play a role here, Türkiye and the UN took an important step to develop a solution between Russia and Ukraine."

Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began.

"There was supposed to be a country that had to play this (mediation) role. Türkiye is doing the right thing here," Kibaroglu said.

Kibaroglu said Türkiye follows a balanced policy between Russia and Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February.

"It is trying to pursue a policy without being anti-Russian on the one hand and pro-west on the other. It does not fully accept the sanctions imposed by the West on Russia, but on the other hand, it does not accept the military action of Russia," he said.

Meanwhile, he added that Türkiye has openly expressed its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.