Turkey and Russia’s relationship is thawing, which could have momentous geopolitical implications. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:
The bad blood between Turkey and Russia over the November downing of a Russian fighter jet over Turkey is all but forgotten as Turkish president Recep Tayip Ergodan is to meet with “his friend” Vladimir Putin in the latter’s home town of St. Petersburg in hopes of turning a fresh page in the two countries’ relations. It will be their first meeting since diplomatic relations between the two nations turned icy cold late last year. In a slap to the face of its Western friends, as the FT puts it, instead of visiting a Nato ally, Erdogan’s first trip abroad since surviving last month’s coup attempt the Turkish president is going to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
In a dramatic pivot by Turkey, the summit has taken on broader geopolitical significance. “The west is criticising Erdogan over his crackdown in the wake of the coup, and Erdogan is denouncing them over that,” said Alexei Malashenko, an analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Centre. “This tension between Turkey and its Nato allies is extremely beneficial to Russia.” The rapprochement between Moscow and Ankara began in June, before the coup attempt, when the Kremlin accepted Mr Erdogan’s apology for the downing of the aircraft over Turkey’s shared border with Syria. Within days, officials from both countries had begun talks to roll back sanctions Russia imposed on Turkey following the incident the FT adds.
Since then broader issues have pushed Moscow and Ankara closer together, “including the desire to teach the west a lesson and shared interests in dealing with the regional security threat.” Ankara also welcomed the fact that Moscow gave its unequivocal backing to Turkey following the failed coup.
“We appreciate the fact that the Russian Federation assumed a clear position on this issue,” Ibrahim Kalin, Mr Erdogan’s spokesman, told Russian news agency Tass last week. This tone contrasts with Ankara’s rhetoric towards its allies. Mr Erdogan has repeatedly lashed out at the US for its response to the coup attempt and its failure to extradite Fethullah Gulen, the 75-year-old former imam accused of masterminding the plot from his self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania — a charge he strongly refutes.
Meanwhile, there has been an inexplicable deterioration in Turkey’s foreign relations with the west. Just hours after a visit to Turkey last week by Joseph Dunford, head of the US military, aimed at soothing tensions, Erdogan unleashed some of his harshest remarks so far. “I’m calling on the US: what kind of strategic partner are we, that you can still host someone whose extradition I have asked for?” he said. He went on to accuse the west of supporting terrorism and said the “script” for the plot “was written outside” Turkey.
One Turkish diplomat in Moscow said: “Our relations with the US are the worst in 50 years . . . and that definitely makes engaging Russia an attractive option.”
Needless to say, For Putin, the tension between the Nato allies is welcome — Moscow has for two decades condemned Nato expansion and recently stepped up its criticism that the alliance was a threat to Russia. Mr Malashenko talks of a “revival of the theory that Russia and Turkey should be close because both are former empires . . . simultaneously European and somehow unique.”
To continue reading: West On Edge As Erdogan Meets With Putin: “Turkey’s Relations With The US Are The Worst In 50 Years”
