Political researchers: Turkey achieves its hidden interests through coronavirus aid
Istanbul – North-Press Agency
Turkey continues, through media and diplomatic means, to discussing the sending medical aid to a number of countries under the pretext of helping those countries to confront coronavirus, aiming to achieve its interests through that aid.
In an interview with North-Press, Egyptian political science researcher Muhammed Thabit Hasnin explains that according to the theory of realism in international relations, the country that takes this approach in its foreign policy when an international crisis occurs seizes the opportunity to turn a crisis into its interests to achieve the greatest benefit.
He added that in applying this to the Turkish case, we find that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a master in this policy, as he aims to provide medical assistance during the crisis to force the state to take a certain position, or at least get it to adopt a neutral position.
He pointed out that Erdogan follows the pragmatic policy through which he aspires to acquire a degree of the wealth of the Mediterranean, and this is the goal of his deep intervention in Libya, until he becomes one of the main parties involved in the Libyan crisis.
He continued, "We find that Turkey, according to the Libyan crisis, has become a main party in this conflict, which cannot be resolved by ignoring it…the declared goal of Turkish interference in Libya is to support the Government of National Accord (GNA), but the real goal of the military, political, and diplomatic Turkish intervention is to secure its share of the Mediterranean gas.”
On May 12th this year, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that they were providing 79 countries with medical aid to combat coronavirus, without giving detail about said countries, saying that Turkey had not requested donations from any country because they did not need them.
Exploiting the coronavirus crisis to its advantage
Egyptian political researcher in international relations and Middle East affairs Muhammed Nabil al-Bandari also said in an interview with North-Press that, “Turkey is trying to take advantage of the current crisis facing the world as a result of the spread of the coronavirus by sending medical and therapeutic aid to countries affected by the outbreak of the disease, like the United States, for example.”
He added that, “Turkey sends aid to send a message that it stands beside the United States in its crisis, but internally, the sending of this aid is intended to obtain a certain political position from the United States in regard to crises that bring together the two parties – for example, the Turkish presence in northern Syria, or the increasing Turkish activity in Libya, without any condemnation from the U.S.”
He concluded by saying that "Turkey is good at playing two sides, sending medical aid with hidden political goals. This does not apply to Turkey alone, but to most countries that have sent aid to its counterparts, both in the Middle East and outside it.”
Observers believe that Turkey, through its President Erdogan, is escalating its rhetoric both towards the Syrian government and its supporters Russia and Iran in Syria, and Khalifa Haftar's forces in Libya. This escalation in tone comes especially after the process of sending new medical aid to an Arab or Western country in order to gain support from its supporters to not criticize Turkey’s interference in Syria and Libya.