St Petersburg visit could lead to closer ties with Russia as Turkish president criticises west’s response to failed coup
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| Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the start of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg in 2013. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images |
Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are due to meet face to face for the first time since the Turkish air force shot down a Russian plane last November. The incident led to a breakdown in relations between the countries and their leaders.
Erdoğan’s day trip to St Petersburg on Tuesday will also be his first foreign visit since the failed coup in Turkey last month and an ensuing, vicious crackdown that has strained relations between Ankara and its western allies. Putin may see an opportunity to rekindle the Russia-Turkey relationship after Erdoğan last weekaccused the west, and the US in particular, of supporting terrorism in Turkey.
Erdoğan also expressed anger at the west in comments published in French newspaper Le Monde on Monday. He compared international solidarity with France over the Charlie Hebdo attacks last year with the response to the coup attempt in Turkey: “I would have hoped that the leaders of the western world would have reacted in the same way and not have contented themselves with a few cliches.”
He also threatened to cancel the migration agreement between Turkey and the EU, due to a European delay in implementing a visa waiver for Turkish citizens. “The European Union is not behaving in a sincere manner with Turkey,” he said.
The Russian president, who has a visceral dislike of street protests and coups, was one of the first foreign leaders to phone Erdoğan and voice his support after the coup attempt. He is unlikely to lecture the Turkish president on the need for moderation in any retaliation.
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| Russian plane crashing in northern Syria after being shot down by Turkish fighter jet. Photograph: Reuters |
It is a dramatic upturn in the relationship, which hit rock bottom after the shooting down of Russia’s Su-24 jet. One of the two pilots was killed, as was a marine who was part of the rescue mission. At the time, Erdoğan said Turkey had warned Moscow on several occasions about incursions into Turkish air space by its jets. Moscow denied the plane ever crossed into Turkish airspace and Putin called the incident “a stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists”.
In the hours and days after the incident, Erdoğan repeatedly tried to contact Putin but was told the Russian leader would not speak to him until he apologised, which he pointedly failed to do. Russia imposed economic sanctions on Turkey and cut off all charter flights between the two countries, reducing almost to zero the huge number of Russian tourists visiting the country. A number of Turkish citizens were rounded up and kicked out of Russia, while life became harder for Turkish businesses in the country.
In June, Erdoğan penned a letter to Putin that stopped short of offering a full apology for the incident but did apologise to the families of the pilots. He also wrote that Turkey “never had the desire or deliberate intention of shooting down the Russian Federation’s plane”, according to a Kremlin statement. The Kremlin accepted Erdoğan’s letter as an apology and soon after announced Tuesday’s meeting.
“I hope that this will lead to the further normalisation of the whole spectrum of our relations with Turkey,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told RIA Novosti news agency. “This is the first meeting after a long break in absolutely all contacts – political, trade and others. So it’s important to have a full discussion, see where we are, and look at possibilities for further cooperation.”
Ushakov said the fact that Erdoğan was making the effort to travel to St Petersburg despite the current internal situation in Turkey was evidence that the Turkish side was serious about a resumption of good relations between the countries.
However, it is unlikely they will immediately return to their previous level, given the amount of angry rhetoric exchanged in recent months. Ushakov said the issue of compensation over the plane would be raised. Erdoğan is also likely to ask Putin to temper Russian support for Kurds in Syria.
There were already signs of the thaw on Monday, as Turkish authorities unblocked the website of the Sputnik news agency, a Kremlin-funded news service. The agency had its website blocked by Turkey’s communications regulator and its bureau chief was deported from Turkey in April.
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