how can Turkey fare well in the Black Sea?

How to export the wheat which accumulates in the Ukrainian ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv, under blockade of the Russian fleet, or of Kherson and Mariupol, under Russian control? How to unlock trade routes in the Black Sea, a mined area? The possibility of a secure cereal corridor will be discussed on Wednesday June 8, in Ankara (Turkey), between Russians and Turks. Since 1936, Turkey has had control of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, strategic locks between the Black Sea and other navigable seas. The country therefore sees itself as a mediator.

An ally of Ukraine, to which it provides drones, it does not want to fall out with Russia either. “It’s very important for them to show that they have a positive contribution to international trade, from a logistical point of view, but it’s also important to show that they can help countries that are going to find themselves in a terrible food emergency. in the coming months”, analyzes Dorothée Schmid, Turkey specialist at IFRI. Beyond the wheat crisis, the challenge is that of access to the Black Sea: 42,000 km2 at the intersection of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Since the start of the war, Turkey has thus observed a certain neutrality, in particular by preventing the crossing of the straits by all military ships.