Russian and Turkish relations

By Ilayda Nijhar

The past few weeks have shown significant improvement in Russian and Turkish relations. The highly anticipated state visit of Turkey’s President Erdogan to St. Petersburg earlier this month clearly shows that Turkey is ready to commit to and cooperate in improving ties with Russia. Both Presidents met for the first time after a period of uneasy relations between both countries which began following the downing of a Russian fighter jet by the Turkish Air Force. The meetings between the two leaders were predominately focussed around new negotiations which would help establish bilateral cooperation around key areas including the economy, energy and politics.

There is no doubt that Turkey has suffered considerably from the deterioration in relations which is most notably seen in the decline of Russian tourism over the past months. The talks therefore not only revolved around the possibility of fully resuming charter flights but also about the handling of the conflict in Syria and how there could be mutual partnership between the two countries to help combat the crisis. Aside from the meetings being held after a lengthy period of disengagement, it was President Erdogan’s first foreign trip abroad following the failed coup in July. Erdogan was determined to make clear his appreciation of Putin’s support during and after the coup period while also suggesting his discontent with the US and EU with their indifferent response towards the coup attempt. And therefore it comes as no surprise that previous speculations of Turkey starting a new military alliance have now been confirmed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. The new alliance would focus on joint intelligence, military and diplomatic efforts. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was keen to stress Turkey’s dissatisfaction with NATO and its lack of readiness to cooperate with Ankara.

Could this be a new chapter in Russian -Turkish relations with an immediate return to business and an end to hostilities? Or could this instead be a ploy by Russia to lure Turkey into her arms in order to cause controversy and upheaval within members of the NATO family?

İLAYDA NİJHAR