He has been the head of a country for many years and has tripled the national per capita income. As a result, he is in power and can take whatever he wants, and is known as a political strongman.
Relying on the special importance of the country, as a member of NATO and G20, he monopolizes the junction of Asia and Europe, shot down Russian fighter planes, and said “no” to the United States, which often caused disturbances in public opinion.
He not only dared to speak, but also dared to do it. It can quell turmoil at home and dare to send troops to neighboring countries abroad, but no country can underestimate its strength. Some people say that he is the leader of national revival and a role model of successful politicians and leaders. Others say he is quite dangerous and is one of the destabilizing factors in the Middle East.
Whether it is praise or slander, it seems that it has nothing to do with him. On the contrary, in recent years, he has calmly led the country to achieve a diplomatic strategic turning point and extended his warm arms to the far east.
He is the famous Turkish politician Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On March 25, 2021 local time, in Ankara, the hands of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the big hand of my country’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi were tightly held together. During the meeting, Erdogan expressed sincere greetings and good congratulations, and expressed the hope that the two countries and the two parties can further communicate and interact, and demonstrate mutual trust and friendship. Minister Wang Yi conveyed China’s greetings, indicating that the strategic cooperative relationship between the two countries will not be impacted by the complex international situation, and will continue to develop soundly, bringing a better life to ordinary people in the two countries.
On a practical level, Erdogan and Wang Yi had an in-depth conversation on issues involving each other’s core interests in China-Turkey relations, including the “Belt and Road” initiative, the “Middle Corridor” plan, and exchanges of advanced technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence. Cooperation also includes the development and research of projects in high-tech fields such as big data and digital economy.
On this day, Erdogan’s most notable statement focused on his evaluation of Chinese vaccines. He said that he publicly vaccinated the vaccine developed and produced by China some time ago, which was to use practical actions to express his position to the people of Turkey and the world, expressing his full trust in the high safety and effectiveness of Chinese vaccines.
For Turkey and Erdogan himself, this is an extraordinary meeting. For the United States, it is even more embarrassing.
Just over five months ago, in November 2020, the US Secretary of State visited Istanbul, Turkey. But the embarrassing thing is that not many people in Turkey are willing to talk to him at this time. He proposed that he wanted to see Erdogan, but Erdogan’s answer was “I’m not free”, so he couldn’t meet. This is really people are still there, the tea is already cold, it is really too chilling. The U.S. State Department held a press conference in Istanbul sadly, expressing its sincerity. Erdogan was too busy to meet the conditions for the talks. The answer to them was still silence. In the end, the then Secretary of State had no choice but to meet with the local religious leaders, and then returned home lonely.
Erdogan doesn’t like to see this former US Secretary of State who likes to “ly lie, cheat, and steal”. How about the current US Secretary of State? The answer is also quite ironic.
Not long ago, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to Erdogan’s instructions, Cavusoglu, who is Turkey’s foreign minister, said bluntly to the current US Secretary of State that the matter is over and there is no need to discuss it any more. The current Secretary of State didn’t understand for a while, what was over, and finally it became clear that what the other party was talking about was Turkey’s purchase of Russian air defense missiles.
Because it does not want to be restricted by the United States, Turkey has planned to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system many years ago, while the United States regards itself as the “boss” and has repeatedly discouraged and even threatened Turkey not to purchase it. But now, Erdogan doesn’t care about the statement of the United States, and insists on taking the last step.
Cavusoglu said that the reason for the end of the matter is not complicated, that is, our country has already paid for it, and all related discussions stop here. Of course, if the United States wants to say something, it is your freedom, but the result cannot be changed in the end. In the end, Cavusoglu also said meaningfully that we had not been able to purchase these products from our allies.
Erdogan’s attitude towards China and the United States clearly contrasts. This illustrates the shift in Turkey’s position in international relations. Especially when the United States and the European Union once again wanted to launch a surprise attack on China under the banner of human rights, Turkey, as a major country across Eurasia, did not have any intention of participating. Instead, it expressed a high degree of importance to China-Turkey relations. It’s a bit intriguing.
In fact, Erdogan has not been the kind of national leader who is obedient to the United States from the very beginning. From the beginning of his political career, he has a high sense of responsibility to the country and the nation, hoping to reproduce Turkey’s past glory. It is not difficult to understand why Erdogan often chooses to confront the Western world.
Compared with these, cooperation with China is Erdoğan’s firm choice of foreign direction after he has experienced painful lessons in the reality of international politics, understood the logic of right and wrong, accepted practical benefits, and firmly chose.
What kind of environmental changes forced Erdogan to change course, from west to east? What does this have to do with his own political experience and ideas? How was he moved step by step during the contact with China?
Erdogan, like many ordinary Turks, came from the bottom. He used to be a good football player when he was young, and he also rejected the invitation of professional clubs to study at the School of Economics and Business of Marmara University. In March 1994, he started his political career as mayor of Istanbul. In 1998, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for making “relevant inflammatory remarks”. After getting out of prison, Erdogan immediately chose to create Turkey’s “Justice and Development Party” and served as its chairman. Subsequently, he took advantage of the economic crisis in Turkey to gain a large number of support, won the parliamentary election and became the country’s prime minister. Since then, he has been re-elected as prime minister, became president himself in 2014, and was re-elected in 2018.
During the first half of Erdogan’s administration, Turkey’s economy developed rapidly, its national strength developed, and its relationship with the United States became closer. However, with the global financial crisis in 2008, the country’s economy entered a recession and began to be affected by a series of negative impacts from internal divisions, the Iraqi issue, and the Syrian issue. The more serious problem is that Erdogan finally discovered that the United States is an unreliable boss, and it is impossible to count on the United States to solve the problem.
In 2016, a military coup took place suddenly in Turkey, and Erdogan was pointed at. He quickly put down the coup and launched an investigation, and finally found that there was a shadow of the United States. Although there is no clear evidence, and the Turkish government has not announced this conclusion, it has significantly changed Erdogan’s thinking. He realized that the Americans only regard any so-called “ally” as a pawn in their hands, use it if it can be used, and discard it if it cannot be used. Taste, he was rather disgusted by it. For this reason, although Turkey has no obvious words or deeds, it is silently sliding towards the other two major countries in the world-China and Russia.
As early as 2010, Turkey established a strategic cooperative relationship with China and joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In addition, cooperation with China has been launched in many economic projects. The further development of the relationship between the two countries began in August 2015 when Erdogan visited China.
After becoming president in 2014, Erdogan chose China instead of visiting the United States, Western Europe, and Russia. It is obvious that his attitude is changing, from always wanting to actively join the European Union to focusing on the East for cooperation. During this visit, he was very active, emphasizing that he will not allow anyone to destroy China’s interests in Turkey, and he will resolutely oppose any form of terrorism. These statements all indicate that China-Turkish relations will usher in a new stage of development.
In 2019, Erdogan visited China again. The focus of the discussions tended to be on bilateral trade relations, joining the “Belt and Road” initiative, etc., and promised that Turkey would recognize the legitimate Syrian government and turn to support China and Russia. Erdogan also stated that Turkey will not agree to be provoked by anyone in the relationship between the two countries.
For Turkey’s attitude, China has expressed its appreciation and practical support. Beginning in 2019, Turkey’s inflation remained high and its unemployment rate soared after the US wanted to purchase Russian missiles and its relationship with the United States became rigid. At this time of crisis, China decisively spent 40 billion yuan to build investment projects in Turkey, which largely helped Turkey out of the quagmire. Some international public opinion even said that the help from China, like a safety rope, saved Turkey and Erdogan.
The United States frequently shouts about human rights, freedom, and democracy, but in the face of its nominal allies, it wields a big stick for sanctions as long as there is a disagreement. On the contrary, although Chinese people don’t like to flaunt themselves, they will silently transfuse blood and support them when facing real friends. Such a stark contrast has completely awakened Erdogan. On January 14, 2021, he was vaccinated with the new crown vaccine from China in Ankara, and organized and mobilized 250,000 medical staff across the country to be vaccinated that day. Afterwards, the scope of vaccination will be expanded to all public service workers and ordinary people. He said that this is using practical actions to show his trust and support for China.
In the face of the ruthless international political reality, any sober national leader will, under the dual guidance of national interests and political beliefs, see clearly the nature of hegemony and understand the future direction of the world’s development. Of course, the Chinese will not count on any country, but they will never beggar their neighbors, and they will warmly welcome the care, support and cooperation from old and new friends. The general trend of the world is vast, and we have reason to believe that with the progress of the times, more Erdoğan will wake up and turn around, and join the camp that truly loves peace and development. Let us look forward to that day together.
Source : mil.sohu.com