Turkey is one of the few countries whose leader can telephone Moscow and Kyiv, Tehran and Washington, Hamas and the Gulf kings in the same week. It has made that a policy. It hosted the first peace talks of the Ukraine war, arranged the agreement that let Ukrainian grain leave by sea, helped close the Gaza ceasefire of 2025, and in 2026 worked with Washington to prolong the truce with Iran. Those who value the service call Turkey a bridge. Those who distrust it say it sells the same friendship to every side.
Turkey's wider position and each side's full account: Turkey's independent course.
Where it stands · September 2026
In September 2026 Erdogan weighed deeper ties with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, led by China and Russia. He travelled to the United States for the UN General Assembly, where he called for recognition of northern Cyprus. In Ankara he met the German state premier Wüst. He told Zelensky that attacks on ships in the Black Sea are unacceptable.
What the dispute is about
Neutral or merely unaligned. A mediator is supposed to have no stake. Turkey has troops or clients in Syria, Libya, Iraq and the Caucasus, arms Ukraine, trades with Russia and shelters Hamas. It argues that this is what gives it access.
What it earns. Standing, above all. Also discounted Russian energy, Gulf investment, American indulgence on arms and on its domestic politics.
Whether it delivers. Exchanges of prisoners and the grain corridor were real. No war has ended at a Turkish table.
