A joint direct line and press conference was held on December 14, at which Vladimir Putin answered questions from journalists and residents of the country.
In the context of Russia’s international relations, the president’s mention of one country, that is, Turkey, and one leader, that is, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attracted particular attention.
And here, of course, the context in which the Russian leader’s openly praising statements towards the Turkish side were made is also important in understanding the true meaning.
The Turkish Presidential and Parliamentary Elections held in May 2023 were evaluated as “the most important elections in the world of 2023” by many foreign observers, including Russian observers. While a description such as “Turkish elections between Biden and Putin” is often heard in which the Turkish opposition sided with Biden, it turned out that Erdoğan, who is trying to be re-elected, was “playing” on Putin.
The crude nature of such a fork became clear once again after Erdogan confirmed his powers as president. After his re-election, the Turkish President continued to follow a line that could neither be described as “pro-Russian” nor “pro-Western”, but should be considered strictly “pro-Turkish”.
And within the framework of this pro-Turkish trend, Erdogan’s first steps were to try to reset Turkey’s relations with the West, which have deteriorated considerably in recent years. The NATO summit held in Vilnius in July and the admission of Finland to the North Atlantic Alliance were clear evidence that the Turkish leadership wants “unfreezing” and more constructiveness in relations with the USA and the EU.
In the direction of Russia, Turkey’s transfer of “Azovites” (members of a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) to Ukraine and Russia’s withdrawal from the “grain agreement” were indicative of unrealized hopes and “coldness” regarding a new stage in Russian-Turkish relations . “In the summer of 2023.” This version was supported by the measured statements of the Russian leadership about Turkey and the reduction of contacts at the highest level by the standards of previous years; this culminated in Erdogan’s brief one-day visit to Sochi on September 4, after many postponements. .
However, after that, many important events took place on the Russian-Turkish line with different signs. Among them, it is worth noting the resumption of the Russian-Turkish mixed Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation mechanism in November, which has not been done since the inception of the CBO.
The positive dynamics of the construction of Akkuyu NPP, the first power unit of which has been allowed to be put into operation by the Turkish authorities, are also evident. Moreover, the Russian Federation’s idea that the second Turkish nuclear power plant, Sinop, on the country’s Black Sea coast, will be built by Russian forces is being expressed more and more loudly.
Dialogue between the Russian Federation and Turkey continues, albeit difficult, on the creation of a “gas center” in the place of the international financial center in Istanbul, and negotiations on the “project road map” continue. Moreover, as can be understood, extended interpretations of this are also possible: Ankara has attempted to establish a Russian “raw materials hub” in Turkey, where gas would be only part of the “product line”.
Russia-Turkey trade turnover at the end of 2023 will become clear at the beginning of next year, but there is no reason to believe that it will not break a record like 2022.
But of course, the most important signal about the current nature of Russia-Turkey relations was the statements made by President Vladimir Putin in the “Results of the Year” format on December 14. There are no coincidences in politics, and the detailed response of the Russian leader to a representative of the Turkish press, directly at the head of the line, should be considered as a thoughtful accent of the Russian leader.
The head of state, in his own words, drew attention to “the leading role of Turkish President Erdogan in restoring the situation in Gaza” and described him as “one of the leaders of the international community” who made the greatest contribution to the solution process. Putin’s words “May God grant him (Erdogan – socialbites.ca) good health” generally entered the most quoted list in Turkey.
I would like to emphasize that it is important for the Russian leader to emphasize the harmony between Russia and Turkey on the Palestine-Israel issue, where the Turkish side is clearly closer to Russia than to the USA and the EU. Moreover, although there are many negotiators from the Global South countries who defend Palestinian interests and call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the Russian President emphasized the role of Turkey and President Erdogan himself.
The climax of the Russian leader’s statements was that he planned to come to Turkey, and if this did not happen within the scope of his recent visit to the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it was only because “President Erdogan did not succeed in his program.”
Putin’s revealing words: “It didn’t work for him, and it didn’t work for me either. It is possible. But perhaps we can agree to carry out this visit (to Turkey – socialbites.ca) at the beginning of next year. This is a rare example of such statements by a Russian leader. First, Turkey’s unconditional priority in Russia’s eyesOn a par with the leading representatives of the countries of the Global South – China and India.
Secondly, these words clearly show that the so-called “leadership diplomacy” continues in the Putin-Erdogan axis.Despite all the difficulties and contradictions of Russian-Turkish relations.
As for the “cold summer of 2023”, it is possible to make different interpretations of the recent events, from “the difficulties were resolved by the parties” to “the parties did not experience any difficulties”.
Let me clarify this last point: It is rare in politics for there to be an overlap between “it seems” and “it actually is.” Russia-Turkey relations are so multi-layered that they can only be evaluated with what is on the surface in the field of information. Moreover, the surface is both controlled and dosed, taking into account the national interests of the countries participating in the process.
Therefore, it is no longer important whether the “cold summer of 2023” really happened or whether it is part of a big political game, but what is important is that Russian-Turkish contacts between Putin and Erdogan continue in the same format. leadership diplomacy.”
We should also expect breakthroughs that will not please Western observers during Putin’s now announced visit to Turkey at the beginning of next year. This is actually what he said directly on the phone line: “Cold summer” has been removed from the agenda and work is underway on new pages of Russian-Turkish cooperation. This means the results are not far off.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.