“Your call straight after the coup was very pleasing for me and our leadership and our people”, Erdogan said.
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Sunni Arab countries followed the Turkish-Russian summit with great concern, the source added, fearing a Turkish détente with Russia may persuade Turkey to revise its positions on the resolution of the Syrian crisis and on President Bashar al Assad’s fate.
No one predicted a radical shift in relations, at least not immediately. “We are enthusiastic about the improvement of relations between Russia and Turkey”, Idrissov said commenting on the results of the talks between the Russian and Turkish leaders in St. Petersburg. Ankara is a member of the alliance and has allowed the USA military to use its Incirlik airbase for operations against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.
At the same time experts note that it may take a rather long period of time to return to normal full-fledged relations. “Vladimir Putin hasn’t got involved”.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said Wednesday Turkey’s membership of the military alliance is “not in question” following the failed coup in July and stressed its “very clear position” of continued support for Ankara.
Turkey and Russian Federation are to reinstate their annual bilateral trade target of US$100 billion, Erdogan said, which had been abandoned after Russian Federation imposed sanctions.
The alternative is to swallow hard, recognize Turkey’s unique geopolitical importance and accept Mr. Erdogan as he is.
“Russia and Turkey are important strategic partners for Kazakhstan”.
Turkey is set to regain Russian Federation as a commercial partner as Moscow prepares to lift the sanctions imposed last December. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that so far, U.S. officials have not been persuaded by the evidence provided by the Turkish government. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau says extraditing Gulen is a “legal, technical process…governed by a 1981 extradition treaty”.
Speaking to a group of Turkish exporters on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also vowed to press ahead with a large-scale government crackdown on suspected members of the movement led by Fethullah Gulen. “There’s a lot of common goals, common interests there”.
Turkish president declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.
He also warned of “serious anti-American feeling in Turkey”, reported Reuters. “We believe our relations and our partnership and our friendship with Turkey is strong”, she said.
As for Russian Federation and Turkey, Syria remains a major potential fault line, despite the pledges to work together. Russia, though, is a longtime ally of Mr. Assad’s, and it intervened with Iran in the Syrian conflict to bolster his fortunes. Russian officials have said the sanctions could be lifted by the end of the year. Parliamentary approval is virtually guaranteed. The two countries support opposing sides in the civil war.
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Russian Federation was quick to condemn the Turkish insurgents.
