Turkey and Russia: A partnership essential to both
(Worthy News) – Just 17 days after the last Astana summit in TehranTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his counterpart Vladimir Putin met again — this time in Sochi. As Erdogan was underlining that “the world was watching the Sochi summit,” the international headlines drew attention to the “secretive nature” of the two leaders’ meeting, which was held behind closed doors.
After four hours of negotiations, an agreement was reached between Putin and Erdogan to expand cooperation in the economic and energy sectors. A joint statement was released following the meeting which expressed “the decisiveness to deepen the ties,” while further details of the agreement remained unclear. Yet, the talk of boosting economic ties was enough to raise eyebrows in the West, which has attempted to put pressure on the Russian economy in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Daria Isachenko, an expert on Turkey and Russia at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, wrote “Relations between Turkey and Russia are a puzzle to many in the West.” Having experienced periods of turbulence in their complex bilateral relationship over the years, a lack of alternatives seems to have brought Erdogan and Putin on a more even keel — at least in the short term. [ Source: Deutche Welle (Read More…) ]