Polish President Andrzej Duda’s visit to Ankara and his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is certainly one of the more, if not the most, important diplomatic visits of the Polish president in 2021. Undoubtedly, this visit was very closely observed in many capitals of the world and especially in Moscow.
This is because there was a meeting between the presidents of two countries; one of which is a regional power and the other (Poland) is aiming to achieve a higher position than it has currently. Relations with Russia are crucial for these two countries.
Erdoğan received Duda with great honors. There was a large welcome ceremony held in front of the presidential palace in Ankara and involved a guard of honor dressed in historic uniforms. The talks also lasted longer than initially planned, which is an important gesture from the president of Turkey who is very well aware of his power and the rising strength of his country.
Five agreements were signed during the visit: concerning cooperation in agriculture, sport, safe tourism, protecting information in the military sector and the purchase of 24 drones by Poland from Turkey. This last agreement is the most important one.
Poland and Erdoğan underlined this is the first NATO member which decided to purchase drones from Turkey. The Turks are not hiding their pride when it comes to the equipment which helped the Azerbaijanis win their war against the Armenians and turned out to be a key weapon.
Poland is also pleased because it is aware that it must arm itself quicker than before. Turkey is a serious partner in this case because it is, as Erdoğan pointed out, one of the 10 countries in the world which are able to construct their own aircraft. Turkish drones are also well evaluated.
