The head of the Gagauz regional autonomy of Moldova, Evgenia Gutsul, continues to stay in Mosva. “I don’t know when I will return home, I still have business, meetings in Turkey,” his brief speech was quoted by TASS state news agency. According to reports, Gutsul has meetings with representatives of the pro-Russian opposition of Moldova in Moscow. There are reports that they are planning to form the “Victory” political alliance.
Presidential elections are expected in Moldova. The acting leader of the country, Sandu, has announced a roadmap for European integration and unification with Romania. Experts find it difficult to assess what Moldova’s public choice is. Western sources openly suspect that before the elections, Moscow will “incite Sandu’s dismissal”. The political confrontation between Moscow and Chisinau is not new.
The exception to that “competition” is the involvement of Gagauzia, because the autonomy not only does not have a border with Russia, but also a complete-unified administrative territory, it has not historically existed and can be dissolved at any time by virtue of the constitutional law. Apparently, Moscow does not have a great desire and opportunity to act as a guarantor of Gagauzia’s identity. Turkey is involved in the game, probably not without Russia’s urging.
The Gagauz are ethnic Turkic speakers. During his official visit to Moldova, Turkish President Erdogan was also in Kamrat, the administrative center of Gagauzia. Today, the leader of the autonomy talks about his visit to Turkey and meetings. He did not elaborate on what level of discussions we are talking about. In Moscow, Gutsuli was received at the level of the Chairman of the Federal Council Matvienko. Will the President of the Great National Assembly of Turkey accept Gutsul?
It is not excluded that the head of Gagauzian autonomy is simply “raising the price”. There is unofficial information that a criminal case has been initiated against him in Chisinau. Perhaps his further presence in Moscow is undesirable, he was advised to return to his homeland via Turkey. But that is a matter of his personal safety.
If Gutsul’s return to Moldova is secured, Turkey’s reputation in Gagauzia will increase. Erdogan is very interested in establishing influence in the Black Sea basin. Apparently, Russia has placed a bet on Turkey’s ambitions. If the prospect of “creating an internal Turkey” in Moldova is likely, then Erdogan will naturally use his leverage so that Moldova does not integrate with the EU and does not unite with Romania. And it will be a geopolitical bonus for Russia.
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