Turkey’s Relations
with Russia
Posted on October 19, 2020by Ali Tuygan
October 19, 2020
In the beginning of the Syrian conflict
Russia and Turkey were on diametrically opposite sides. Almost a decade later,
despite some cooperation, they are just putting up with one another.
At the end of September 2015 Russia
intervened in Syria. On November 16, Presidents Putin and Erdogan met on the
sidelines of the G20 summit in Turkey. A week later, a stunning
development changed the picture. Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 military
plane for having violated Turkish airspace for 17 seconds.
Had Turkish-Russian relations been
characterized by antagonism, unresolved disputes, and tension, the path to this
incident could have been explained more easily. But the two countries were
enjoying a stable, friendly, and mutually rewarding relationship for decades.
Russia met more than 50% of Turkey’s natural gas needs. Every year more than 4
million Russians came to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast for summer holidays.
Turkish companies had undertaken contracts worth billions of dollars in Russia
providing jobs for thousands of Turks. Bilateral trade volume was over 30
billion dollars. Russia was going to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
Presidents Putin and Erdogan had given the impression of maintaining a close
personal relationship.
In the wake of the incident President
Putin vented his anger. He directed far-reaching accusations against the
Turkish government for having links to the Islamic State. And he imposed a
series of punishing economic sanctions against Ankara. In response, Turkey’s
leadership said that more than enough warnings had been issued for airspace
violations. It rejected IS-related accusations as slander.
The downing of the Russian Su-24 made
Turkey remember NATO. However, members of the alliance understandably preferred
to avoid a confrontation with Russia over an incident which had occurred
without their having an opportunity to say a word.
Six months later, Ankara’s bravado gave
way to realities. The government had to recognize that confrontation with
Russia was not sustainable. On June 27, 2016, the Kremlin announced Vladimir
Putin received a letter from President Erdogan which said that Russia is
Turkey’s friend and strategic partner, and the Turkish authorities do not want
to ruin relations between the two countries. “We never had the desire or
deliberate intention of shooting down the Russian Federation’s plane,” Mr.
Erdogan said.
Thus, the two Presidents were able to
meet in Moscow on August 9, 2016. An effort to restore the relationship was
launched. However, misfortunes were not over. On 19 December 2016, Andrei
Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated by an off-duty
Turkish police officer with dubious links, at an art exhibition in Ankara.
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In 2017, Turkey signed the S-400s deal
with Russia in its first major weapons purchase from Moscow. Turkey’s NATO
allies were critical of the deal, but Ankara said this was its sovereign
decision. As allied criticism became more vocal it simply said this was a “done
deal”.
Turkey could have valid points regarding
the price and technology transfer aspects of Western air-defense systems.
However, it was hard to imagine that Russia would be more generous towards
Turkey in defense technology transfer than Ankara’s NATO allies. But Moscow was
more interested in driving a wedge between Turkey and the West than the 2.5
billion dollars it will get out of the deal. With the S-400 deal, it got both.
What remains unclear even today about
Turkey’s purchase of S-400 missile defense is the underlying threat assessment.
Are these batteries going to be deployed against threats from Turkey’s
neighbors? If so, which are these countries?
When looked at in the broad context of
Turkey’s relationship with Russia, one cannot but conclude that the S-400
contract was the price Turkey had to pay to put behind the downing of the
Su-24, the murder of the Ambassador and restore its cooperation with Moscow.
Because Turkey’s well-advanced multidimensional economic cooperation with
Russia was not something Ankara could easily give up. Moreover, it had to
maintain a working relationship with Russia in Syria.
Since the downing of the Russian Su-24
aircraft on November 24, 2015, Presidents Putin and Erdogan have met on nearly
thirty occasions including bilateral visits and meetings on the sidelines of
multilaterals. On average they have spoken on the phone once a month.
On October 14, 2020, Foreign Minister
Lavrov was interviewed by radio stations Sputnik, Komsomolskaya Pravda and
Govorit Moskva. To a few questions reflecting outright hostility towards
Turkey, he responded with calm. On Nagorno-Karabakh he said, “… We do not agree with the position that has been voiced by
Turkey and enunciated on several occasions by President Ilham Aliyev of
Azerbaijan. It is no secret. We cannot share statements to the effect that
there is a military solution to the conflict and that it is acceptable.
Regrettably, Turkey has been able to do this, confirming that it will support
any actions undertaken by Azerbaijan to solve this conflict, including military
ones.”[i]
During the same interview Mr. Lavrov was
asked how Turkey could regularly be called a “strategic ally” despite
confrontations in Syria, Libya. He responded by saying that Turkey has never
qualified as Russia’s strategic ally. “It is a partner, a very close
partner. In many sectors, this partnership is of a strategic nature.” he
added. That, indeed, is the case.
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On the same day, Presidents Erdogan and
Putin had a telephone conversation at Turkish side’s initiative. The Kremlin
statement on the call included the following: “Vladimir Putin expressed
serious concern over the involvement of Middle Eastern fighters in the
military action. The leaders stressed the urgent need for joint efforts in
order to cease the bloodshed and move to a peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem as soon as possible.
“Hope was expressed
that Turkey, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, would make a constructive
contribution to de-escalating the conflict.”[ii]
Ankara issued a shorter statement which
passed over differences.
The foregoing reflects a difference of
opinion on Nagorno-Karabakh. Nonetheless, when compared to what Secretary
Pompeo told Erick Erickson of WSB Atlanta on October 15, the criticism directed
against Turkey is mildly put. Mr. Pompeo said: “Yeah,
it’s a longstanding conflict. The resolution of that conflict ought to be
done through negotiation and peaceful discussions, not through armed conflict,
and certainly not with third party countries coming in to lend their firepower
to what is already a powder keg of a situation. We – we’re hopeful that
the Armenians will be able to defend against what the Azerbaijanis are doing,
and that they will all, before that takes place, get the ceasefire right, and
then sit down at the table and try and sort through this – that is – what is a
truly historic and complicated problem set.”[iii] Mr. Pompeo did not
call names whom he had in mind was clear.
On the question of Nagorno-Karabakh
Azerbaijan’s frustration with the status quo is totally understandable. Because
Armenia is occupying not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also seven surrounding
districts on the territory of Azerbaijan. Regardless, Western media reporting
largely reflects old prejudices against Turkey and Azerbaijan.
In an earlier post, I said the peoples
of Turkey and Azerbaijan call themselves “one nation, two states” and Ankara’s
support to Baku is only to be expected. I also said the Turkish government,
while standing behind Azerbaijan, should also keep a close eye on the
diplomatic front because there would be limits to what can be achieved on the
battlefield. Last Saturday Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on a second ceasefire.
It may hold or break down like the first. What Ankara needs to see is that
Yerevan has seized on Turkey’s strong language as an opportunity to claim that
its principal adversary in this conflict is Turkey and thus turn Ankara’s
isolation and its troubled relations with the West to an advantage in
Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian attack on the Ordubad region of Nakhchivan is
another attempt to drag Turkey more into the conflict. So, Ankara can perhaps
consider keeping social distance, and thus making sure that its embrace does
not turn into a disadvantage for Baku.
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Despite carefully worded, reassuring
statements from Ankara and Moscow, the relationship is not exactly what it was
a decade ago. Because in Syria and Libya the two capitals remain at opposite
ends. On Nagorno-Karabakh they do not agree on much. On eastern Mediterranean
disputes Moscow has advised dialogue. But Russia’s traditional solidarity with
Greece and by extension the Greek Cypriots is well-known.
It appears that Moscow, in view of the
downturn in Turkey’s relations with the US and Europe has chosen to invest in
an irreversible estrangement, perhaps a rupture between the Ankara and the
West. This has been Russian policy for centuries. And under current circumstances,
such a policy only makes sense from Russia’s perspective. This not to say that
Moscow would tolerate Ankara’s every move on issues the two countries differ.
But it would be patient. It would not engage in unnecessary public criticism,
rhetoric. It would convey its messages in frank language behind closed doors.
Because it has a strong tradition of diplomacy with long-term perspectives.
In the meantime, Ankara must be
delighted with comments in the Western media that Turkey is pursuing an “assertive”
foreign and security policy. And it seems to believe in the merits of
reenacting Sultan Abdul Hamid II’s policy of playing major powers against one
another.
Last Friday Turkey tested its
Russian-made S-400 air defense system. The State Department said the missile
launch is “incompatible with Turkey’s responsibilities as a NATO ally and
strategic partner” of the US. Also, on Friday, Ukraine’s President Zelensky
visited Turkey. At a joint press conference, President Erdogan reiterated that
Turkey has not recognized Crimea’s unlawful annexation, nor will it. “We, together with Ukrainian authorities, will maintain our
support for our Crimean Tatar brothers and sisters, who are a crucial element
of the historical and humanitarian ties between Turkey and Ukraine,” he
added. And yesterday, he targeted Russia for sending mercenaries to Libya. He
was probably responding to the Kremlin readout of the phone call which
mentioned involvement of Middle Eastern fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In brief, Turkish Government’s difficult
balancing act between Moscow and Washington continues. Because the foreign
policy of the past decade has put us in a tight corner.
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[i] https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4381977
[ii] http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64204
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[iii] https://www.state.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-with-erick-erickson-of-the-erick-erickson-show-on-wsb-atlanta/
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