The situation in the morning: when Erdoğan flirts too much with Putin

NATO partner Erdoğan is looking to be closer to Putin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan moves skillfully between hostile camps: between NATO, to which his country belongs, and Russia, with which it has a partnership.

But according to the taste of many Western countries, he is now doing it too brazenly.

The European Union is causing anger that after a four-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday, Erdoğan announced that he would strengthen economic cooperation with Russia.

Turkey will in future pay for Russian gas in rubles and wants to participate in the Russian Mir card system.

Turkey doesn't look like a reliable NATO partner.

Ever since Putin's attack on Ukraine, Erdoğan has been acting at maximum opportunism

in the larger confrontation between the West and Russia.

He can afford that to some extent.

He uses the strategically central location on the Bosporus, the only access to the Black Sea: Erdoğan serves as a mediator and has helped negotiate a corridor through which ships can transport Ukrainian grain.

At the same time, he wants to extort concessions from the West so that he agrees to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

And finally, Erdoğan is pursuing his interests in Syria: It is expected that he could soon take military action there against the Kurdish YPG, which is linked to the terrorist organization PKK - for that he needs Putin.

The Turkish president knows he can afford a double game up to a point.

And intermediaries are needed again and again in the current situation.

However, Erdoğan is currently in the process of crossing red lines with his economic cooperation.

According to the Financial Times, the EU is even considering economic sanctions against Turkey if it were to help Russia circumvent Western sanctions.

That will hardly impress Erdoğan: the probability that it will come to that is slim.

He's in a comfortable position from his point of view and he's enjoying it.

You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:

• Fighting around the nuclear power plant – the UN speaks of “suicidal” attacks:

  There has again been shelling around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine – with mutual accusations.

  The United Nations warned in no uncertain terms of a nuclear escalation.

• Ukrainian President expects "good news" about arms deliveries - and threatens Russia:

  Volodymyr Zelenskyj is optimistic about the delivery of arms.

  Russia should also be careful not to hold "pseudo-referendums" in the Donbass.

• First freighter arrived in Ukraine after the end of the Russian naval blockade:

  The "Fulmar S" is the first freighter to arrive in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, the country's Ministry of Infrastructure announced.

  The grain corridor now has an "entrance and exit."

• Amnesty International regrets anger over Ukraine report:

  Amnesty International triggered an uproar and a resignation with a critical report on the tactics of the Ukrainian army.

  Now the organization expresses regret, but sticks to its findings.

Ukraine: war over nuclear power plants

On the night of March 3rd, I was just getting home from work (the editorial deadline for the printed SPIEGEL is Thursday night) when the breaking news reached me:

After that, sleep was out of the question.

I was among the many who watched the NPP's live feed that night, which kept shooting shots all the time - and listened to Ukrainian ministers who warned of a Chernobyl scenario.

The matter went off lightly, the Russian army captured the nuclear power plant, no radiation escaped.

Calm returned, even though the reactor, which was meanwhile occupied by the Russians, only sporadically sent data to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But now we have to worry again

: Because again there is fighting around the Zaporizhia kiln, Russians and Ukrainians are blaming each other.

The

.

According to Ukrainians, Russian soldiers are shelling the town of Nikopol across the river with artillery.

According to Russians, Ukrainian troops are shooting at the nuclear reactor – which they deny and in turn accuse the Russians of pretending to be shooting at the nuclear power plant themselves.

Drone images show that there are numerous Russian troops and armored vehicles around the nuclear power plant, apparently using it as some kind of base.

In March, as today, war in the vicinity of nuclear power plants represents an unreasonable risk.

If it is true that a nuclear power plant is used as a troop base when there is fighting, the consequences can be unimaginable.

• Attack on Kyiv: "Using a nuclear power plant as a shield - that's madness" 

Israel's latest Gaza operation

After five weeks in office, Israel's new Prime Minister Jair Lapid commanded his first military operation over the weekend: the Israeli army attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, little more than a year after the last major armed conflict in the region.

More than 40 people are said to have died.

The attacks were not aimed at the ruling Hamas, but at the Iran-financed, more radical terrorist organization "Islamic Jihad": It fired hundreds of rockets at Israel - including at the greater Tel Aviv area, where they were intercepted by the "Iron Dome" defense system.

Lapid is counting on Hamas not to intervene in the conflict and is even secretly pleased that its up-and-coming rivals in Gaza are being weakened.

But the Prime Minister took a risk,

.

An armistice came into effect during the night – if it holds and the conflict does not escalate into war, Lapid can claim the military action as a domestic political success.

The country is due to vote on November 1, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the ruling coalition of failing to crack down on Palestinian militants.

Now he, who sees himself as the only true protector of the Israelis, had to trott up to the prime minister's briefing.

• Sociologist on the new elections: "Israeli society has lost faith that the conflict can be resolved" 

Here is the current quiz of the day

The starting question today: China and India are the two most populous countries in the world.

Who follows in third place?

Winner of the day...

... is US President

: The Senate has approved a climate, tax and health package worth more than 300 billion US dollars, which, among other things, should lead to the USA reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 by more than 40 percent.

If the US takes climate protection seriously, that's good news for the rest of the world.

Biden is an unpopular US President.

This is also due to the fact that he has achieved little domestically.

On the one hand, this is a consequence of his own tendency to want to please everyone in a deeply divided country.

And on the other hand it is due to the blockade policy of the Republicans in the Senate.

There, the Democrats have a wafer-thin majority, but cannot rely on all of their own faction members.

In order to get more conservative senators from their own camp - like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema - on board, they now had to reduce the originally planned package by almost half.

The US House of Representatives still has to approve this week for the bill to go into effect.

There, however, the Democrats are clearly in the majority, and approval is considered certain.

After that, massive investments are to flow: in the US transport sector, in renewable energies, energy-efficient renovation of residential buildings and in tax deductions for e-car buyers.

In addition, drug prices are to be capped and a minimum tax rate of 15 percent is to be introduced for large companies.

With three months to go before the midterm election, that might help the Democrats at least a little;

they're already getting a bit of a boost from the Supreme Court's abortion ruling.

But the Republicans are still more likely to win back the House of Representatives in November.

The latest news from the night

• "There will be an exchange of prisoners":

  Basketball player Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia.

  The United States wants to get them released through a prisoner exchange – now a former diplomat was “optimistic”.

• "Gasoline is currently very much too expensive":

  The ADAC has criticized the pricing at German gas stations.

  The dollar exchange rate and the price of crude oil by no means justify the conditions at the petrol pumps.

• RKI boss warns of the spread of exotic diseases in Germany:

  According to Lothar Wieler, there are more and more mosquitoes and ticks in this country.

  That has consequences for the health of Germans - possibly also a return of malaria.

The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today

• Cruises are booming, as if the world knows no crises:

  the pandemic paralyzed the cruise industry, now it's starting again at full steam: with new luxury liners, modernized technology and strict corona controls.

  Can this work? 

• The last days in Downing Street:

  Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak fight for the leadership of the British Tories.

  But what is incumbent Prime Minister Boris Johnson doing?

  Even before he's gone, there's speculation of a comeback.

• The treasure in the Upper Rhine Graben:

  Lithium is coveted and expensive as the »white gold of the energy transition«.

  It could soon also be obtained in Germany using new methods.

  But citizens' initiatives are mobilizing against it - for fear of earthquakes.

• Does it make sense to impeach Donald Trump?

  He attempted a coup, so Donald Trump would have to go to court.

  But a trial could plunge the United States into civil war.

  Now the Democratic Attorney General must decide – and hope for the Republicans.

• Are Europe's bays filling up with walruses?

  "Freya" in Norway, "Mursu" in Finland: walruses have had contact with humans on several occasions - it didn't always end well.

  Authorities are already speculating about euthanasia.

I wish you a good start into the week.

Sincerely

yours, Mathieu von Rohr