Turkey is ok with both European and non-European Western Balkans

Cross-border Talks invited Marian Karagyozov - a Balkanologist from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, for a talk on the Turkey's role in international relations in the Black Sea region and the Western Balkans. Marian discussed about Turkey's specific role of a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, about the energy cooperation between Turkey and Russia, about Ankara's attitude towards Western Balkans and Bulgarian-Turkish strategic cooperation. The bottom line is that Turkey is the most populous and most dynamic economy in Southeastern Europe and that makes it a magnet for any of the small countries in the region. Also, it has the resources and the strategic mindset to play complex geopolitical games and be perceived as neutral, while many other countries in the region are forced to pick sites in the war in Ukraine.