Turkey and Russia Leaders : What is the nature of the relationship between them ? Allies or Enemies ?

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who returned from New York in disappointment, is meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Sotchi today, with a foreign policy stumble between the White House and the Kremlin.”

“Prior to the meeting between the Russian and Turkish presidents, Putin held a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in which he stressed the need for the withdrawal of foreign forces on Syrian territory under occupation, in exchange for recalling the presence of Russian troops at the request of the Damascus government.”

The meeting was followed by an announcement by Russia’s top diplomat Serguei Lavrov  that Turkey was slow to meet its obligations in both Sotchi and Astana.

“Concurrently, Russian warplanes have carried out a series of targeted attacks on northern areas of Syria under Ankara’s direct control, stretching from Zawiya Mountain in the southwestern countryside of Idleb to Afrin north of Aleppo city, with Russia’s on-the-ground support for its political call for the withdrawal of illegal forces on Syrian territory.”

“Erdogan’s current visit to Russia is the second in less than two years, after he rushed to Moscow in March last year to meet his Russian counterpart, hoping to stop the Syrian-Russian escalation then in Idleb.”

“In essence, the conditions on the ground today are much the same as they were a year and a half ago, when Ankara failed to force Damascus to stop its military campaign in the northern Hama countryside and southern Idleb, and failed to persuade Moscow to stop military operations that led to Damascus’ control over large areas, flouting the Saraqeb red line drawn by Ankara.”

“Despite Turkey’s positive statements toward Russia, Ankara’s policies in recent years based on a mix of nationalist Islamist slogans in the service of the neo-Ottoman project have limited the relationship between the two parties to only the framework of rapid political and economic gains, which Moscow is well aware of and based on.”

“Russia’s positive relations with Syrian Democratic Forces, the Democratic Union Party, and the People’s Protection Units are in total contradiction to Turkey’s approach to this issue.” In contrast, Turkey works on a similar agenda with the United States in Idleb, the Caucasus, and Ukraine, which Moscow regards as a direct threat to its national security.” Both countries are at opposite ends of the spectrum in Libya.

“In short, Erdogan, a US returnee who has been burdened by the economic consequences of his foreign policies over the past decade, will be stripped of any leverage with a Putin embroiled in high international oil and natural gas prices after rising energy demand in recent months.” “Ankara’s decisions to buy the second batch of S-400 and Russian SU-57s instead of the Patriots and F-35s may prompt Putin to offer some consumable gestures from his domestic counterpart, but these are unlikely to reach the level of concessions to Erdogan, who is begging at the gates of Moscow and Washington, looking for a souvenir image adorned with his press publications.”