Putin, Erdogan eye resetting of ties

“Not a single Western leader has visited Ankara to offer condolences and display solidarity”.

As Turkish diplomats and military and intelligence officials held talks in Moscow yesterday, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his compatriots had lost confidence in the European Union because it had “failed a test” over the coup.

The Russian president cannot only claim to have won the poker hand with Erdogan but also to have renewed a partnership with a country that is crucial to Russia’s economic and geopolitical interests (exporting gas is one of these) – to the extent that his Turkish counterpart said he was ready to take bilateral agreements to a “higher” level than before the crisis. “Downing of the Russian jet was just last straw”.

Said Erdogan, as reported by BBC.

“Russia and Turkey are important strategic partners for Kazakhstan”.

Prior to his visit to Russia, President Erdogan called President Putin his friend and noted that he wanted to open a new page in relations with Moscow.

“We lived through a very complicated moment in relations between our two states and we very much want to overcome these difficulties”, said Putin at the joint press conference at the end of his talks with Erdogan.

The Russian president categorically condemned the failed military coup.

“We intend to gradually cancel the special economic measures limiting Turkish companies’ activities in Russian market”, Putin said.

Rift between Turkey and Russian Federation has badly damaged Turkish tourism this year, tourism professional Ender Alkoclar said. “Both sides are determined to take relations forward”.

Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian Su-24 over the Syrian-Turkey border on November 24, 2015, an attack Vladimir Putin described at the time as a “treacherous stab in the back”.

“We are building a strong mechanism with Russian Federation regarding Syria”, Cavusoglu said. The plant is expected to produce some 35 billion kilowatt-hours per year.

With Turkey’s outlook flagging and Russian Federation mired in economic crisis due to low oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine, both men want to get business started again.

“We have commercial, economic and energy interests that require strong ties between Ankara and Moscow”.

“Do we want a full-spectrum restoration of relations?” The visit is being closely watched in the West, where some fear both men might use their rapprochement to exert pressure on Washington and the European Union and stir tensions within North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the military alliance of which Turkey is a member.

“In this new world order, we have seen that you should not keep all your eggs in the same basket”, he added.