Grain Corridor and Turkey's Growing Reputation

The process that emerged when the Russian Federation began to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022 continues to shake the world. It seems that this bloody war has not yet come to an end, and it is known that Turkey, as the only country that can talk directly to both warring parties, is making serious efforts to end the conflict. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strives to establish peace in almost constant contact with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

Among these efforts, the issue that has come to the fore recently and that the whole world has been talking about is the free distribution of grain that cannot be exported from Ukraine due to the war. Turkish diplomacy, with great effort, provided the opportunity to export grain by mediating between Russia and Ukraine. Along with the grain, the cargo of cargo ships passing through the "grain corridor" to the countries in need has become Turkey's reputation.

Mediating between conflicting parties is not part of every country's diplomacy. It is essential that the conflicting parties trust this mediator. However, gaining this trust is not easy. Soft power forms the basis of trust. Because Turkish diplomacy has this confidence, it has reached the capacity to mediate between Russia and Ukraine in the grain issue and prisoner exchange.

There are many countries in the world that need Ukrainian grain. Most of these are poor countries. Turkey has also made efforts to ensure that the ships full of grain passing through the Turkish straits from Ukraine reach these countries. These initiatives of Turkey made it possible for the food crisis that emerged with the withdrawal of Ukrainian grain from the world market and the rapidly rising wheat prices to cease to be a factor of global instability with the establishment of pre-war conditions. As a result, circles that condemned Turkey on every occasion and, moreover, openly made hostility towards Turkey the cornerstone of their discourse, especially the western press, were forced to "appreciate Turkey", albeit reluctantly. However, it is also a fact that Turkey's reputation among countries that are in food crisis and need Ukrainian wheat is even higher than in western countries.