Turkish newspaper Hurriyet has reported that the letter was published after both sides secretly agreed to restore ties and hammered out the wording following mediation by figures including Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and a prominent Turkish businessman.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Russian President Valdimir Putin, at the G-20 summit in Antalya in November 2015.
In a bid to normalise ties with Russian Federation following the unpleasant downing of a warplane on the Syrian border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to reach Moscow on Tuesday on a crucial official visit.
Putin then offered Erdogan moral support over last month’s failed military coup. “I once again express my gratitude to you for this opportunity to be with you and meet with you”, the Turkish leader said.
“Now, I believe, we have a chance to reconsider everything, to open a new page in Turkey and Russian Federation relations”.
Now, Israel finds itself suddenly up against a Russian-Turkish partnership aimed at strengthening Iranian domination of Syria – the exact reverse of the Netanyahu government’s objective in resolving its dispute with Ankara and forging deals with Moscow.
Russia, which is conducting a bombing campaign in support of Erdogan´s foe President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, transformed the balance of the Syrian civil war last September when it intervened militarily, to Turkey´s consternation. Russia’s Defense Ministry has accused Turkey of aiding Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) in the past, citing data indicating that the militants are being re-supplied and re-armed from Turkey.
The minister added that anti-US sentiment had reached its peak in Turkey over the Gulen issue and urged Washington to act before it turned to hatred.
“Western countries, including [the] North Atlantic Treaty Organisation [alliance], have not been able to bring peace and stability to Syria”.
But after such a bitter dispute – which saw Putin accuse Erdogan of stabbing Russian Federation in the back and profiting from an illegal oil trade with the Islamic State group – it will take a lot for the pair to reheat relations.
Moscow imposed a number of sanctions on Turkey, including an embargo on food imports, a ban on the sale of package tours, and the introduction of a visa regime – measures that apparently sent Turkey’s booming tourism industry into a nosedive.
Relations between the two countries plunged into crisis past year when turkey shot down a Russian military jet on the Syrian border.
Speaking in St. Petersburg ahead of a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Erdogan thanked his Russian counterpart for his telephone call after a failed military coup on July 15, saying it “brought our people great happiness”.
Although there had been “a lot of hyperbole and psycho-drama” surrounding the meeting, Nikitin said, it marked a return to more normalized relations between the two giant powers to the east of Europe.
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The talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Reccep Erdogen in St. Petersburg scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 9, are causing trepidation among Israel’s policy-makers and military leaders.
