February 9, 2024  Welcome back to the Turkey Briefing. There have been more exciting developments this week. But for many, the sight of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan sporting a keffiyeh on the sidelines of an Islamic youth forum Friday in support of Gaza was the greatest highlight of all. Thank you for reading, Amberin (@amberinzaman) Stood up again?Reuters citing Turkish officials reported last month that Russian President Vladimir Putin was going to make his long heralded official visit to Turkey this month. He was expected to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Feb. 12, two days before the latter’s upcoming visit to Egypt on Valentine’s Day. It soon emerged, however, that Putin wasn’t going after all. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no postponement because no official date had been set for a visit. Russian state media said that a trip might take place in either April or May. The Russian leader was expected to come in April last year for the inauguration of the Akkuyu nuclear plant, Turkey’s first, which is being built by Russia’s nuclear energy company, Rosatom. He joined the event by video instead. Why is Putin playing hard to get? Turkish officials were subsequently cited by assorted outlets as saying that the postponement had to do with presidential elections in Russia. They are scheduled to be held on March 15-17. Not many are buying that line. A proposed project that would render Turkey a mega hub for Russian natural gas exports to Europe is cited as one of the obstacles. Turkey already faces considerable flak from its Western allies over its refusal to join sanctions against Russia and may be reluctant to draw further ire by signing such an agreement with Putin at this time. Read the rest of my analysis and access all of Al-Monitor's news, analysis, newsletters and events by becoming a subscriber. Use code TUR25 for 25% off your first year of Al-Monitor.       |
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