Bobby Ghosh, Columnist

Turkey’s Neutrality on Ukraine Is Coming at a High Price

President Erdogan’s desire to stay in Putin’s good graces risks pushing the country further to the margins of NATO.

April 15, 2022 at 7:00 AM UTC

Bobby Ghosh is a senior editor in the digital weekend team. Previously, he was a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, where he wrote mostly about international affairs and culture.

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Last summer, after years of open hostility, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron called a “verbal ceasefire.” Now, the Turkish and French presidents are in direct communication as each tries to intercede with Vladimir Putin to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.

The would-be peacemakers have made no headway with the Russian president, however. Having punctured Macron’s pride by ignoring his importunities against the invasion, Putin has been somewhat more indulgent of Erdogan’s presumptions as a mediator in the conflict.