The City of London mouthpiece The Economist, in its May 30 newsletter from its Digital Editor Adam Roberts, admitted hoping for a defeat of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the May 28 runoff election, to encourage the defeat of other “authoritarians.” The newsletter complained of coming side effects in Asia of Erdogan’s re-election. “A few weeks ago we commented that a defeat for Mr. Erdogan would send a message to strongmen rulers in other parts of the world,” wrote Roberts. “Sadly, a victory for Mr. Erdogan also sends a message. Narendra Modi in India, for example, faces a third general election within the next year. My guess is that he is cheered by the news from Turkiye. Similarly, the iron lady of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who has been in office longer than any other woman in power today, is expected to face an election early in 2024.” (That’s only because the Queen is dead, but she wasn’t elected, either.)
On CNBC on May 28, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkiye David Satterfield admitted that, despite what he might hope for, there would be no change in Erdogan’s policy of cooperation with Russia. In fact, Satterfield admitted, this cooperation has had good results for other nations, such as in the Black Sea Grain Agreement; and for the two nations, the basis of the policy is the mutual economic benefits of Russia-Türkiye relations, including food and petrochemicals investments and trade, and Russia’s “virtually granting a $20 billion nuclear power plant,” the Akkuyu complex of four large reactors which has begun operations. Satterfield said he still hoped that post-election, Erdogan might become more moderate regarding Sweden’s application to join NATO, but, regardless, Russian-Turkish relations of cooperation would continue.
