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Binali Yildirim is known for his personal closeness to the President of Turkey Recep Erdogan and pragmatic approach to politics. The former Minister of Communications and Transport, and one of the founders of the "Justice and Development Party", is known as a technocrat and a strong economic manager. The resignation of Ahmet Davutoglu from the post of Prime Minister and the appointment of Binali Yildirim as his replacement demonstrated Turkey's refusal to associate itself with Davutoglu’s neo-Ottoman course in foreign policy. After collapsing completely, Turkey now wants to return to a more pragmatic foreign policy dictated by the national interests of the country rather than the ambitions of becoming a global center of Islamic neo-imperial order.
Under Davutoglu, Turkey have become a regional troublemaker and a ringleader of conflict, and those conflicts have had a negative impact on Turkey. Through Davutoglu, Turkey became involved in the conflict in Syria, one of the consequences of which was the revival of the Kurdish factor, which now threatens the very integrity of the Republic of Turkey. Radical Islamism entrenched in Syria and Iraq is also a threat to national security. The destruction of the Russian aircraft, which Davutoglu also took responsibility for, led to a protracted conflict with Russia at a time when both countries had agreed on joint action in Syria. As a result, the previous agreements, which were favorable for Turkey, were crossed out. Turkish business began to suffer serious damage. In the wider geopolitical arena, Ankara has lost a unique opportunity to maneuver between Washington, Moscow, Riyadh, and Brussels. Thus, it has become more dependent on the US and its foreign policy strategies.
Binali Yildirim seeks to overcome the catastrophic consequences of Davutoglu’s course. Since taking the position as Prime Minister, he almost immediately announced that he would seek to restore friendly relations with all countries with which Turkey has earlier entered into conflict with. In particular, this applies to Russia. Under Yıldırım, Ankara intensified efforts to improve relations with Moscow. According to our sources, the Turkish rapprochement with Russia and the preservation of the territorial integrity of Syria are the two key points of Yildirim’s foreign policy program. Foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is supporting him in this effort.
In Baku, the main task of the new Turkish prime minister is peacemaking. His predecessor did much to provoke Azerbaijan into resuming hostilities in Karabakh. Objectively, neither Azerbaijan nor Turkey wants another bloody conflict in the South Caucasus, in terms of tension in other areas. As we wrote in detail previously, the only country interested in the conflict is the United States. Apart from Turkey’s obvious interest in Azerbaijan's energy resources, Ankara is seeking to use Baku as an intermediary for the restoration of relations with Russia. Despite the recent outbreak of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia maintains close relations with the Azerbaijani leadership.
Perhaps the parties will discuss a compromise with Moscow and Yerevan: the transition under the control of Azerbaijan of five regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, which were not Nagorno-Karabakh territories originally. The question of the status and sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh will not arise. After that, Azerbaijan, in exchange for concessions on Karabakh, may intensify its participation in the Eurasian integration project, playing the role of conductor of Turkey's interests in the process.
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