Halted joint projects include the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu Nuclear Plant.
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The coup attempt took place while Erdogan was on a family holiday in southern Turkey and saw both the parliament and the area around the presidential palace bombed from the air.
TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, on the situation in Syria.
Putin: “Your visit today despite the complicated political situation in Turkey shows that all of us want to resume our dialogue and restore our relations in the interests of the people of Turkey and Russian Federation”.
Erdogan’s visit is his first foreign trip since the abortive putsch, in which more than 240 people were killed.
As Ankara sealed its rapprochement with Russian Federation, at home it warned of rising anti-American sentiment and of risks to a migrant deal with the European Union, in remarks which underlined how bad its ties with the West are.
HECY: Maybe they can minimize frictions between Turkey and Russian Federation… Putin’s intervention in the Crimea and Syria show he is quick to turn global tensions to Russia’s benefit – and yesterday’s talks provided another opportunity.
As the negotiations have become rockier in the wake of the coup attempt, Turkey has threatened to cancel the deal over Europe’s delay in implementing the promised visa-waiver by October; German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has spoken of “visa blackmail”.
Turkey is accusing Fethullah Gulen, the religious cleric – now in Pennsylvania, in the USA, [of plotting the failed coup]. Moscow also accused Ankara and Mr Erdogan personally of enabling terrorism in Syria and profiting from illegal oil trade with the Islamic militant group Isis.
Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, said the issue of Syria is the most hard topic facing the two leaders as they met Tuesday, and mending ties is unlikely to cause dramatic changes in Ankara’s policies toward Syria given its large investment and public support for the Syrian opposition over the years.
Russian Federation is a main, key and very important player in establishing peace in Syria. Russia imposed trade sanctions on Turkey following the incident, drastically reducing the amount of Russian tourists visiting the country. Moscow accused Ankara of supporting terrorism while Turkey accused Russian Federation of violating its airspace and bombing civilian targets inside Syria.
Russia’s strongman leader had authorised his intelligence services to warn Turkish security forces about the planned coup shortly before it happened. They were earlier arrested.
Analysts say that Erdogan, with the visit, may also be hoping to play the Russian card to strengthen his hand in disputes with the United States and European Union.
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“This was not handled well by either the United States or Europe”, said James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Turkey. What else do you think is of great importance between the two countries?
