However, the U.S. State Department doesn’t think the meeting was such a big deal.
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“Russia and Turkey are supporting the fight [against Daesh], and both are part of the worldwide group trying to negotiate an end to fighting in Syria”, the Wall Street Journal quoted Trudeau.
Erdogan said Turkey was entering a “very different period” in its relations with Russian Federation, and that solidarity between the two countries would help the resolution of regional problems.
Russia also imposed a ban on Turkish agricultural imports following the shootdown, as well as a ban on charter flights between the countries, which reduced the flow of Russian tourists into Turkey to a trickle, hurting a sector also suffering the impact of a string of terror attacks across the country.
Putin’s statements were made during Erdogan’s visit this week to Moscow.
The news outlet described both leaders as “authoritarian” and claimed that they can shelve their anger if strategic interests are at stake. Even though Turkey-Russia relations were worse since previous year, both sides’ interests brought them together, according to New York Times.
Erdogan’s meeting with Putin was only his second with a foreign head of state since the coup, following a visit to Ankara by the Kazakh president on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a press conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, on August 9, 2016.
Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute, said Erdogan may also be seeking for Putin to use his influence in Central Asian republics where the Gulen movement has roots to crack down on the network there.
It also claimed Turkey getting closer to Russia might be because of “Erdoğan’s hope to play the Russian card to strengthen his hand in disputes” with the USA and EU.
The July 15 coup attempt was conducted by the Gülenist terror-cult (FETÖ) under the leadership of Fetullah Gülen, who has resided in Pennsylvania since 1999, according to the Turkish government.
“This was not handled well by either the United States or Europe”, said James Jeffrey, a former USA ambassador to Iraq and Turkey.
He demanded that the U.S. extradite Fethullah Gulen, the US-based Muslim cleric whom he accuses of organising the coup.
“This visit seems to me a new milestone in bilateral relations, beginning with a clean slate, and I personally, with all my heart and on behalf of the Turkish nation salute Mr Putin and all Russians”, Erdogan said in an interview with Russian state media on Tuesday.
It added Turkey hoped to become a natural gas hub for Europe.
Nine months after Turkish forces shot a Russian warplane out of the sky near the Syrian border, the bad blood between the countries is over.
He said the visit of Erdogan, despite the hard political situation in Turkey caused by the failed coup attempt on July 15, showed that Ankara really wanted to restore bilateral cooperation.
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Russian Federation slapped a raft of sanctions on Turkey in the wake of the deadly jet incident, hurting Turkish exports and damaging its tourism industry.
