The Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani sent a letter this week to the Norwegian Nobel Committee nominating authoritarian Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the Nobel Peace Prize, on the grounds that Erdogan allegedly “single-handedly averted a global disaster” in Ukraine.
Erdogan’s Turkey – a NATO power with close economic and political ties to Russia – has inserted itself as a significant intermediary between Ukraine and Russia since the latter announced a full-scale invasion of the former country in February. Erdogan himself has maintained personal communication with both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, cutting business deals with Russia while a corporation run by his son-in-law provides armed drones to Ukraine.
The Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Nobel committee’s official website, is intended to recognize “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses” in any given year. Recent winners include warmongering Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed; the U.N. World Food Program, an agency whose workers have an unfortunate history of rape accusations; and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, whose “peace deal” with the communist terrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has fueled the biggest drug boom in that country’s history.
Erdogan is a radical Islamist who has largely eroded the democratic institutions of Turkey and has perpetuated himself in power through fraudulent elections. He is expected to stand for president again in 2023, but it is unclear who will be allowed to run against him after the arrest of popular Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for allegedly insulting politicians.
The Turkish president has maintained friendly ties to Pakistan, an officially Islamist state, throughout his tenure. Like Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Erdogan has used his international platform to condemn criticism of Islamic leaders as “Islamophobia.” Erdogan has also insisted jihadists are either not true Muslims or not terrorists.
Noting that the Nobel Peace Prize is typically awarded to “people who have taken exceptional action to resolve looming or ongoing conflicts towards peace,” Sanjrani described Erdogan as a “true statesman and leader” in his letter and praised him for understanding “the true message of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his teachings of peace, tolerance and love for all humanity”:
Chairman Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani through a letter has officially registered the nomination in favour of Turkish President @RTErdogan for the "Nobel Peace Prize" for his efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis in a letter addressed to Norwegian Nobel Committee…1/3 🇹🇷🇵 pic.twitter.com/TdutdIrLcO
— Senate of Pakistan (@SenatePakistan) January 4, 2023
Erdogan, the senator’s letter continued, worked to “dispel the myths and misconceptions related to Islamic teachings.”
The primary reason for the nomination, however, was Erdogan’s involvement in the Ukraine war.
“Russia-Ukraine war had quickly turned into a nuclear flashpoint that could have ended in catastrophe for the whole world,” the Pakistani Senate wrote. “Due to his (Erdogan) untiring efforts, timely and effective interventions with both sides, he singlehandedly averted a global disaster.”
The global disaster in question was the potential for mass famine as a result of the war stunting grain shipments out of Ukraine. Ukraine is responsible for producing about ten percent of the world’s grain supply and is a major producer of other critical crops, supplying markets primarily in Africa and the Middle East.
Erdogan maneuvered his relationship with both Moscow and Kyiv to broker a deal in July in which Russia would allow Ukraine to ship its grain and other critical food products out of its ports without being attacked. The two sides extended that agreement for 120 days in November, also as a result of mediation partly by Erdogan.
“No one can deny the fact that Turkey has gained the respect of all, including its perennial adversaries, with its sensible and calm stance favoring peace and restraint in international crises,” Erdogan said during his new year’s address last week, taking a victory lap on the grain deal. “Our goal is no longer to rank in the top tier of the global political and economic league. Our goal is rather to obtain the political and economic strength that will put us among the very top of the top tier.”
Russia was amenable to Turkish negotiation requests in part because Erdogan has presided over a significant increase in trade volume between their two countries that did not diminish amid loud pressure from western Europe for other countries to sanction Russia. (Much of Europe itself continued to purchase Russian gas while demanding others boycott the country’s industries.) In October, Erdogan cut a deal with Putin to import natural gas and process it there, then ship it to Europe,
“In our last meeting, we agreed with Putin on this issue. We will create a hub here with Turkish gas coming from Russia,” Erdoğan said at the time.
Ukraine has relied significantly on drones manufactured by Baykar, a Turkish corporation run by Erdogan’s son-in-law, to keep Russia’s invasion of the country at bay. In August, Ukrainian officials stated that Baykar was interested in building a drone factory in Ukraine for domestic production of the advanced weapons. Baykar’s relationship with Kyiv and its key role in preventing Russia from conquering the capital has not stopped Putin from considering business with the company.
“Putin told me that he wants to work with Baykar. He proposed to establish a factory in Russia as [Bayakr] has done in the UAE,” Erdogan said in July.”
Baykar executives have claimed they do not have any interest in working with Russia, contradicting the president.
Erdogan spoke to Putin personally most recently this week. The Turkish leader reportedly pressured Putin to consider a “permanent ceasefire” and establish a unilateral truce temporarily.
“Calls for peace and negotiations should be endorsed by unilateral ceasefire and vision of a fair solution,” Erdogan said, according to the Turkish government.
The Kremlin claimed any ceasefire would require Ukraine to give up occupied territories to Russia, but Putin announced an Orthodox Christmas truce on Thursday, reportedly to last from noon local time on Friday through midnight on Saturday. The Ukrainian government called the alleged ceasefire “hypocrisy” and questioned the sincerity of the proposal.
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