ROME, May 29. /TASS/. Following the reelection of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as president, Turkey won’t change its foreign policy, maintaining the autonomous position within NATO that doesn’t sit quite well with Western leaders, Tiberio Graziani, the chairman of Vision & Global Trends International Institute for Global Analyses, told TASS on Monday.
"When it comes to international policy, the reelection of Erdogan as president of Turkey does not cause enthusiasm among ‘die-hard Westerners,’ such as the administration of Joe Biden, the European Union and NATO, because it is evident that Ankara will uphold its foreign policy. However, they will have to deal with it," the analyst said.
He said French President Emmanuel Macron, in his message of congratulations, emphasized the importance of future bilateral relations with Turkey in the context of stability in the Mediterranean region.
"France and Turkey, and possibly Hungary, share a more critical approach to NATO, which can even be called autonomous," the analyst said.
He also said he believes that, having received a new mandate supported by extensive voter support, Erdogan can further consolidate his autonomous role in the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as continue to strengthen relations with Russia and play a mediating role between Russia and Ukraine.
"The grain deal, which was a major diplomatic victory scored by the Turkish president, will expire again in July, and its extension will become the first important test after the start of the new presidential term, while on the domestic front, Erdogan will again have to show that he is capable of solving economic problems - which are only multiplying - dealing with corruption, and mitigating the issue of national minorities," Graziani said.
Turkey has just held presidential elections, and the country's Supreme Election Council declared Erdogan as the winner, based on preliminary results. When 99.43% of the ballots were processed, he received 52.14% of the vote, while the opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu got 47.86%.