But the relationship with Russian Federation is the most important tactically, and not just for Turkey.
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FILE – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during an event for foreign investors in Ankara, Aug. 2, 2016.
Both projects were announced years earlier, but had been held back by commercial disputes even before Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet at the Syrian border last November.
The mass dismissals have created gaps in state institutions and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday 25,000 new teachers and police officers would be employed after the purge.
“God willing, with these steps the Moscow-Ankara axis will again be a line of trust and friendship”, Erdogan said.
Turkey has also come under heavy criticism from the West over the extent of the crackdown on those accused of links to the coup and the Gulen movement.
“It is good that after the shooting down of the Russian fighter jet by Turkey past year, there is a rapprochement”, he said.
Now Russia has chose to resume those package tours – an important source of income for Turkish resorts.
On the Syria conflict Mr Putin acknowledged big differences with Mr Erdogan, but said “we will look for solutions”. The normalization of ties clears the way for progress on major energy infrastructure projects – such as Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, to be built with Russian involvement, and a major natural gas pipeline from southern Russia to Turkey.
In St Petersburg both leaders pledged to restart those projects.
On July 22, Russia also lifted restrictions on flights to Turkey, which had been implemented temporarily following the coup attempt, after Turkish officials assured their Russian counterparts that additional security measures were being taken.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses supporters in Istanbul after the failed coup attempt.
What led to the thaw?
Putin then offered Erdogan moral support over last month’s failed military coup.
Mr Erdogan was angered by criticism from the European Union and the U.S. of the mass detentions of suspected plotters.
Erdogan’s trip to Russian Federation comes as Turkey’s relations with Europe and the United States are strained by what Ankara sees as Western concern about how it handled the abortive coup, in which more than 240 people were killed.
The minister added that anti-US sentiment had shot up in Turkey over the Gulen issue and urged Washington to act before it worsened.
While Moscow has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation’s civil war and further bolstered that support by launching an air campaign last September, Turkey has pushed for Mr Assad’s removal.
Russian Federation has accused Turkey of backing Islamist anti-Assad groups, including some accused of “terrorism” in Russian Federation.
Despite the timing of the Russian Federation visit, Ankara has insisted that Erdogan’s meeting with Putin is not meant to signal a fundamental shift in Turkish foreign policy.
Relations between Turkey and Russian Federation – two powers vying for influence in the strategic Black Sea region and Middle East – have historically not been straightforward.
Turkey was also angered by Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, accusing Moscow of violating the rights of Crimean Tatars.
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“The more muscular Europe’s approach to Turkey, the more likely it is that the agreement will have a longer shelf life”.
