The more Ankara manages to diminish Western, European, and British influence over Kyiv, the greater the possibility of achieving peace becomes.
The more Ankara manages to diminish Western, European, and British influence over Kyiv, the greater the possibility of achieving peace becomes.
UWI author, historian and political scientist Associate Professor Mehmet Perinçek shared his views on the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul.
Mehmet Perinçek stated that peace talks have been sabotaged by outside powers. He said that the allegations of child abduction are efforts to undermine the peace initiatives. Similarly, despite the agreement on the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinskiy later stated that Ukraine did not comply with it.
Also, Perinçek emphasized that Türkiye should work to reduce Western influence over Kyiv.
Perinçek said that the path to peace has been deliberately undermined by outside powers, particularly pointing to the developments that took place just before the talks in Istanbul as factors that negatively impacted the peace process:
Sabotages by outside powers
“The path to peace is being sabotaged by outside powers. For instance, right before the talks in Istanbul, attacks on Russian airfields and sabotage of railway lines showed that the hawks within the Kyiv regime and Europe, who sponsor and control Kyiv, have no interest in peace. These acts are designed to provoke Russia into issuing harsher responses and to eliminate any chance for peace through a cycle of provocation and violence.”
Perinçek noted that Russia has remained calm and composed in the face of these provocations:
“From the beginning of the special military operation, Russia has taken great care to avoid harming civilians. In fact, one of the main reasons for the slow advance of Russian troops into Ukrainian territory is to prevent civilian casualties. I personally visited Donbas and other regions, and spoke with local residents. They told me that neo-Nazi groups like the Azov Battalion used civilians as human shields, while Russian soldiers, risking their own lives, did everything to avoid harming civilians. Other friends who visited the region have witnessed and shared their observations with the public.
Derailing the peace talks
“We see that child abduction allegations by the Ukrainian side are merely an attempt to cover up such provocations and efforts to derail peace talks. These accusations have no real basis. Just one day before the Istanbul talks, Ukraine itself claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks that took the lives of civilians. And immediately after that, they started pushing these baseless child abduction narratives. It’s a diversion tactic to obscure their own sabotage of the peace talks.”
The Ukrainian side is not interested in resolving the conflict, but rather in escalating it. In fact, the terrorist attacks on railway lines and the strikes on military airfields deep inside Russia just one day before the Istanbul negotiations were clearly aimed at sabotaging the talks. Ukraine might have hoped that these attacks would prevent Russia from even attending the meeting.
However, when things didn’t go as they planned and the meeting in Istanbul still took place, Ukraine found itself unable to reject humanitarian agreements such as the exchange of prisoners or the return of fallen soldiers’ bodies, but they are once again trying to complicate the process and create new obstacles.
No intention of seeking peace
This tells us something essential: the Kyiv regime has absolutely no intention of seeking peace with Russia. Not only are they uninterested in peace, but they are also unwilling to take even limited humanitarian steps.
The survival of the Kyiv regime’s dictatorship is tied to the continuation of this war. From the perspective of the Ukrainian people, the situation looks grim. The country lost significant territory, infrastructure, and economy are in ruins. Many people lost their lives for the sake of interests of foreign powers. If the war ends, Western countries, including Poland, may even lay claim to Ukrainian territories.
On behalf of the British hawks
On top of that, there is rampant corruption in Ukraine. This is pointed out by Trump and his representatives too. A significant portion of the aid is not spent on the needs of the army, and instead gets siphoned off by inner circles of the Kyiv regime. That is another reason why the Kyiv regime wants to continue the war at any cost, even if that goes against the interests of its own people and country. Their refusal to engage in humanitarian agreements tells us that they want to escalate the conflict as much as possible on behalf of the British hawks.
What Türkiye should do
With regard to Türkiye’s possible role in the process, Perinçek said the following:
“Türkiye has the potential to play a crucial role in the peace talks. In order for Türkiye to fulfill this role in the most effective and constructive way, it should work to reduce the influence of the West, especially that of the hawks in Europe, over Ukraine. Because to proceed on the path to peace is only possible by preventing sabotages by warmongers. The more Ankara manages to diminish Western, European, and British influence over Kyiv, the greater the possibility of achieving peace becomes. Only then can we get real, lasting outcomes that would bring a genuine relief to the whole world.”
Otherwise, as long as the sabotages continue, it will be difficult to move beyond partial steps such as prisoner exchanges, which is also important, yet far from being a comprehensive resolution.