The presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on Saturday in Baku. It was their first meeting after the controversy correspondence between the two countries on the issue of the Armenian Genocide and the parliamentary elections in Turkey, where Erdogan was unable to consolidate his power.
The meeting of presidents of Russia and Turkey took place on Saturday in Baku. In the capital of Azerbaijan, Putin and Erdogan came to take part in the opening ceremony of the first European Games.
The Russian-Turkish negotiations were completely closed to the press. Journalists are invited to a protocol of the meeting, during which the two leaders have exchanged minor remarks, praising the performance of athletes at the Games.
However, one of Putin’s remarks can be perceived as “trolling,” the Turkish leader. In response to Erdogan’s remarks that the game did not come EU leaders, Putin replied with a smile: “Turkey as a candidate for accession to the EU was represented by the entire EU.” The Russian president was well aware that the issue of Turkey’s accession to the EU – painful for Erdogan. Negotiations are conducted on this for ten years.
Recently, during one of his speeches, the Turkish leader attacked the leadership of the EU, which, according to him, blocking Turkey’s membership “for political reasons” . He said that Turkey will continue to seek to join the EU.
It is worth noting that recently the EU made it clear to Turkey that the non-recognition of her Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire – a factor that prevents Turkish membership.
Attitude to Armenian Genocide has recently become a cause of tension between Turkey and Russia. Vladimir Putin called on the mass killings of Armenians as “genocide” during a trip in April this year in Yerevan, which hosted the commemorative events to mark the centenary of the tragic events.
The official recognition of the Armenian Genocide Russia provoked a sharp rebuke from Ankara. The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement, noting that it “condemns” the interpretation of the events in the Ottoman Empire as “genocide”. Erdogan himself said at the time that he was “sad” to hear the words of the Russian president, and did not fail to remind of Russia’s role in the events in Ukraine, “What is happening in the Crimea and Ukraine, it is obvious to all. They (Russia) must first explain that, before we talk about genocide. ”
On Wednesday, meeting in Baku, Putin and Erdogan, of course, not remembered – at least publicly – about the sharp reaction of Ankara on the Russian leader’s visit to Yerevan.
One of the themes, which, as previously announced the Kremlin, were discussed at the meeting, Putin and Erdogan – is the situation in Syria. According to a senior researcher IMEMO Victor Nadein-Rajewski in the Syrian conflict, both countries are “on different sides of the barricades.”
Russia supports the government of Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey – he forces opposing the Islamist opposition. In recent years, the position of Ankara in the Syrian issue began to actively criticize and Washington, expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that among the Turkish “clients” in Syria – the radical Islamists, however, is not formally associated with the terrorist groups of LIH.
Do not expect Putin to which Erdogan is experiencing a greater share of respect, able to affect the change in his views. However, according to experts, some chance of adjustment of Turkish foreign policy there.
After the recent parliamentary elections, Erdogan’s party “Justice and Development” has failed to obtain an absolute majority. This put an end to the Turkish leader’s plans to turn the country into a presidential republic, and thus increase their political opportunities.
According to a Middle East analyst Theodore Karasik, the fact that the meeting between Erdogan and Putin took place after the elections in Turkey, is important:
«Dream Erdogan the establishment of the Sultanate of sink into oblivion, and in connection with the geopolitical and geo-economic relations between the two countries may vary. This can affect not only the situation with the “Turkish stream,” but also on the policy of Ankara against the Kurds, Syria and Iraq, “- said the expert,” Gazeta.ru ».
The American edition of Christian Science Monitor, commenting on the results of the previous parliamentary elections in Turkey, also notes that “an ambitious and ideologized” imperial “foreign Turkey’s policy will come to an end. ”
If the foreign policy of Ankara really change, Turkey will become more comfortable as a partner for Russia. So far, the most favorable relationship between the two countries develop in the economic sphere. Among the major joint projects – the construction of the gas pipeline “Turkish Stream” with the prospect of its continuation in Europe, Russia building nuclear power plant in Turkey.
«Russia and Turkey are very important partners – economic and trade, and investment, and partners on major projects in various fields,” – said on the eve of the Russian-Turkish talks Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov. He, by the way, is a specialist on Turkey, as he worked in the Russian Embassy in Ankara before going to the Kremlin.
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