Erdogan-Putin meeting to opt for political issues
By Gunay Camal
The leaders of Turkey and Russia are expected to meet in a face-to-face meeting in August as part of mutual efforts to normalize bilateral ties following months of tension due to the downing of a Russian warplane by the Turkish side last November.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while talking to France-24 on Saturday, voiced a hope to have a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in mid-August.
“Right now, the Turkish Foreign Ministry negotiates it with the Russian counterparts," he said. "Of course, the recent events in Turkey, apparently, will change the visit timing. But I think, if nothing extraordinary happens, a meeting with the Russian president may take place about mid-August."
Earlier, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists a meeting between the two presidents will be held in Russia in early August. "They (Putin and Erdogan) agreed to hold the meeting in early August, it will take place in the Russian Federation, but the city and the exact date are so far being considered," the Kremlin representative said.
The two countries patched up relations after President Erdogan sent a letter to the Russian leader that expressed condolences to the killed pilot’s family. This will be a first meeting since a dramatic collapse of relations back in late 2015, and the two seem to have a lot to talk about.
A lot has happened since they last met; notably President Erdogan has survived a military coup attempt, while the Russian leader appears to have successfully restored Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s control over much of Syria.
One of the key topics will be the chaos of Syria, as both sides have own interests here. Russia wants to ensure Turkey won’t participate in NATO’s Black Sea activities, while Turkey will want boundaries in northern Syria.
The announced meeting is particularly important for Russia, and for Turkey, believes Russian political scientist Abdul Nagiyev.
“The recent events in Turkey have oppressed the economic issues, and the main topic of Erdogan-Putin talks will be overcoming the vacuum in bilateral relations after the incident with the Russian fighter. The sides will try to coordinate the political interests of the countries in the current realities in the international arena,” he said.
The expert is sure that there are a number of pitfalls in the bilateral relations of Moscow and Ankara, while there are also many strategic issues where their interest coincide and the presidents can bring the bilateral relations to higher level.
Today the international relations pass through a new stage of formatting, which is quite painful, while the Turkish-Russian ties are under close watch of the world powers.
As for possibility of Turkey’s leaving NATO and joining any other block together with Russia, the expert excluded this scenario in short term as this is too difficult process.
Russia was among the first to condemn the military regime change and Puttin phoned Erdogan to back “order” in Turkey, while its Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized NATO saying when Turkey needed the help of the Alliance, it was involved in the question of the imaginary threat from Russia.
However, experts argue that a decision to oust the country, possessing the second-largest army in the North Atlantic Alliance, from NATO would not be taken lightly. Turkey, which straddles Europe, the Middle East and Asia, plays a vital role in the war against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as well as in stemming the tide of refugees.
European leaders breathed a sigh of relief when Turkey’s government defended its democracy and averted a possible chaos, which would bring along three million additional Syrian refugees flooding into the Old Continent.
But following the coup, the EU and NATO members warned Turkey over the possible problems in the relations with the country, European Union officials warned that talks on Turkey's bid to join the bloc would end if the country restored the death penalty, while NATO joined the warning. Ankara also has tough ties with the Unites States.
Ankara named Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, living in Pennsylvania, as the number one suspect of the military coup attempt, and urged Washington to hand “the terrorist Gulen” to Turkey. But, the U.S. does not appear eager to hand Gulen despite intensive talks with Ankara, and protests of Turks living in Boston and Pennsylvania, a hometown of Gulen.
Amid the difficulties with the West, Ankara may opt for strengthening ties with Moscow, along with Tehran, which will surely boost Ankara’s positions.
The political rapproachment maybe cemented with the economic ties, as Turkey and Russia may revitalize the Turkish Stream gas pipe. Some clarity on construction and financing the pipeline would be very welcome for both sides during the upcoming meeting.
The sides will also mull the tourism issues, as Turkey suffered a lot after several deadly attacks by PKK and ISIS. Russian tourism has always been very critical to Turkey, and gaining back Russian tourists will be a gift for Turkish resorts.
In the wake of the coup, Russia issued a warning to evacuate its tourists, and now Erdogan will likely ask for lifting the formal warning on travelling to Turkey.
Also, Erdogan will likely push for Putin to lift bans on Turkish food imports that also came in last November, thus entirely improving the trade ties.