Our crafty Turkish friend Erdogan
Last Friday, March 11, Russia was visited by the sworn and crafty Turkish friend Erdogan. Erdogan flew to the meeting with Putin with high hopes: as an oriental man, he was interested in the sale of Turkish cloves, onions, cabbage and some citrus fruits to cold Russia, a visa-free regime to increase the flow of Russian tourists, the final settlement of the issue with the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, as well as unraveling the heap of Syrian problems.
The Turkish press reported all this cheerfully and with great enthusiasm on the eve of the visit.
In short, Putin and Erdogan had a lot to talk about. And, perhaps, the most important achievement of the negotiations was that both sides did not mix the flies of politics with the cutlets of the economy.
If “everything was clear” in advance with the Turkish Stream and the future construction of the Turkish Akkaya nuclear power plant, since both of these objects are interesting and beneficial to both parties, then on other issues everything was far from clear.
A friend of Erdogash came to his friend Vladimir, spoke beautifully and colorfully, and longed for reciprocity. And at the same time he kept the toad in his bosom. And Erdogan’s toad was big and cold.
Firstly, with the beginning of Trump’s presidency, Turkey began, not unreasonably, to hope for a warming of relations with the United States, if not for a new “honeymoon.” Turkey has previously sought to play its own game, deftly maneuvering between the two superpowers, implementing the ideas of the Great Turan whenever possible. Why would Erdogan refuse such maneuvers? In addition, having set a course for industrialization, Turkey, along with the normalization of relations, can count on financial and technological assistance from the United States. Having created a refugee crisis in Europe, Turkey and the EU have relations somewhere near the freezing point, so Europe is no help for Turkey.
Secondly, Türkiye is playing a very dangerous game in occupied Syrian territory. These are strong contradictions with Russia on the Kurdish issue, and the desire to leave the occupied lands under their control, establishing a military base on them.
The knot in the Syrian problem between Russia and Turkey is so tight and complicated that it threatens direct clashes between the Russian and Turkish military contingents. This extremely dangerous, but quite probable prospect forces both sides to act with caution, to the point that on March 7 in Antalya, the Syrian-Iraqi problem was discussed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, Chairman of the Joint Committee of the beginning. US Staff Joseph Dunford and Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Hulusi Akara. An unprecedented event!
Thirdly, Erdogan understands the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations in a rather specific way. This is the very recent recognition by Turkey of “Russian aggression” in Crimea, and the protests that regularly arise as if by magic in Turkey against the entry of Crimea into Russia, and the sudden refusal of the Turkish side to carry out ferry communication with Crimea literally on the eve of negotiations with Putin.
True, now Erdogash will not be able to import seasonal Russian agricultural products and flowers to Russia through the Crimean ports. For which we congratulate him. We write with one hand and cross out with the other.
Fourthly, Turkey, true to its expansionist policy, continues to promote its influence in the northern Black Sea region (Kherson region of Ukraine) and provides assistance to extremists from the “Majlis”, the influx of barmalei from ISIS and its own “gray wolves”.
From February 9 to 10, Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu visited Ukraine, during which touching meetings took place between the chief Turkish diplomat and foreign Turkish agents on the payroll, Dzhemilev and Chubarov. Çavuşoğlu, as an “elder brother,” patted them on the withers and reassured them that Turkey considers Crimea an occupied territory and stands for the integrity of Ukraine, quietly helping thugs to tear away the southern strip of the Kherson region from Ukraine. Poroshenko muttered almost the same words to Çavuşoğlu.
In short, there will be Turkish money for the Majlis!
Here, by the way, is another serious reason - to overthrow the redneck fascist regime in Ukraine as quickly as possible in order to prevent the Kherson caliphate from taking root under the auspices of the Turkish special services.
Naturally, all these cunning maneuvers of the sworn Turkish friend did not pass Putin’s attention. If we clear the responses of observers and experts from the diplomatic chatter “everything is going as it should with Turkey,” then by leaving out the gas pipeline (the construction of which will begin this half of the year) and the nuclear power plant, in fact, Erdogan has partially solved the gardening and vegetable demand of Turkish exports . Access of Turkish agricultural products to the Russian market remains measured so as not to spoil our Turkish friends too much. And taking into account the unstable situation and the constant factor of the terrorist threat in Turkey itself, there will be no visa-free visit to Russia for Turks in the foreseeable future.
It is unlikely that the Turkish side will benefit from canceling the visa-free regime for Russians as a retaliatory measure. Turkey has recently become an extreme recreation zone, and for its tourism sector, it is more expensive for its tourism sector to be offended by Russia. Taught by bitter experience.
However, Turkish construction companies are rushing to Crimea to develop housing and resort construction, which is not bad at all and can play a positive role in restoring the infrastructure of the Peninsula, the affordability of housing and reducing the price tags for holidays in Crimea. No matter what they promised Chubarov and Poroshenko, Erdogan and Cavusoglu.
In fact, Putin gave the cunning Erdogan exactly as much money as he earned. Literally on a pharmacy scale. To be fair and without offense.
This is how our difficult relations with Turkey develop. A kind of hybrid partnership on the verge of friendship and rivalry. And they will apparently remain like this for a long time.
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