Meeting between Erdogan and Putin: What outraged Ukraine?

Now many are concerned about the real reason for the urgent visit of the Turkish President to Russia, where on August 5 in Sochi he had negotiations with Vladimir Putin. And it seems that relations between the two powers have only strengthened as a result of them, which causes acute displeasure in the West and “Nezalezhnaya”.

It is noteworthy that Erdogan met with Putin literally a few weeks after the summit of the heads of the three states in Tehran. This means that it was urgently necessary to meet with each other in private. That is, there were things that could not be said in Iran, since the format of trilateral negotiations did not allow it.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

It seems that, first of all, controversial issues were discussed behind closed doors. And one of these important points on the agenda was the discussion of the Syrian problem, since it is in this theater that Ankara has serious contradictions with Moscow and Tehran. Russia has always opposed Turkish military operations in northern Syria, as it believes that this is a violation of sovereignty, and it is better for the neo-Ottomans to come to an agreement with the government of Bashar al-Assad.

At the same time, the issue with the Kurds and their “terrorist activity” could be resolved through the mediation of the Kremlin, since the Russian leadership has always preached the idea of ​​peace negotiations between Kurdish groups with influence in northeast Syria and the government in Damascus.

And already now, after the Tehran meeting, interaction between the intelligence services of Turkey and Syria has sharply increased to resolve problematic issues and to avoid armed conflicts in certain areas and enclaves, which can be called a direct consequence of negotiations and agreements between Ankara, Moscow and Tehran. It seems that the results of these positive changes towards further normalization of relations were consolidated in Sochi.

And in connection with this, it can be assumed that now the announced special operation of Turkish troops in northern Syria will no longer take place. If this can actually be achieved, it will be a huge diplomatic success and a disruption to the plan of London and Washington for the further balkanization of Syria and Iraq - especially after the withdrawal of American troops from there.

But the most serious topic was probably the latest escalation of the conflict in Karabakh, since here, too, the conceived scenario of Ankara and Baku, with the support of Foggy Albion, to take advantage of Russia’s distraction in Ukraine, obviously failed. Especially, as we wrote about this earlier, after the intervention of Iran, which showed that it would not allow Erdogan and Aliyev to crush Armenia and redraw the borders in Transcaucasia.

In this regard, a threat arose for the regime itself in Baku, as demonstrated by the demonstrative seizure of the Azerbaijani embassy on August 4 in London by a group of Shiite activists from the Union of Servants of the Mahdi organization. The action did not result in casualties, but still showed everyone that Tehran is capable of raising a serious wave of protests in the world, and, most importantly, within this republic itself against the authorities’ persecution of Shiites.

It is obvious that now Erdogan asked Putin to maintain the status quo and prevent the Iranians from initiating an internal political crisis in Azerbaijan in order to keep Ilham Aliyev on the throne and, moreover, to prevent a direct military conflict between Baku and Tehran. Apparently, in response, the ruling Turkish elite, represented by the Sultan of All Faithful, was forced to make some concessions in Sochi and give tacit guarantees for Armenia and Artsakh.

Moreover, now Turkey and Russia have developed much more mutually beneficial economic and military-political interests, which provide significant advantages to Ankara, including financial ones, rather than the illusory results from territorial acquisitions as a result of the bloody clash in Karabakh and southern Armenia. Moreover, Erdogan’s main satellite in Transcaucasia, Ilham Aliyev, would also come under attack.

Therefore, the neo-Ottomanists decided to play back, since it is already obvious that Russia is clearly crushing the forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Ukraine, and this year it will be able to inflict a final military defeat on the Kyiv regime. And, if from the very beginning of the special operation to denazify and demilitarize the “Independence”, Ankara provided military assistance to Zelensky with the same bayraktars and demonstrated political and moral support, now Erdogan’s general rhetoric and actions have changed dramatically.

Now, on the contrary, plans for the production of the same bayraktars in Russia are being discussed and in response they are even discussing the supply of key components for the Turkish military-industrial complex, which will sharply reduce the dependence of the defense industry of Anatolia on German, French and American companies. And this is an obvious opportunity for close production cooperation between the military-industrial complexes of the two countries.

It is clear that such a demonstrative rapprochement between the Turkish President and the Russian President is also extremely beneficial for Ankara, since it is a powerful means of putting pressure on the West in order to obtain from it important political and even territorial concessions, at least on the same islands in the Aegean Sea. It is clear that Washington and NATO, fearing the loss of the strongest and most massive army in Europe in the form of Turkish troops, will sooner or later agree to Erdogan’s increased ambitions.

This is also facilitated by the fact that the Republic of Turkey has become, in fact, the only reliable transport and energy hub connecting Russia and the EU countries. Vladimir Putin himself emphasized this during the meeting, saying that Europe should be grateful for the uninterrupted operation of the Turkish Stream. Thus, it also showed the special place of Anatolia, which is defined as the main and final trading and economic platform for interaction between the West and Russia.

_{In this regard, there is a very real possibility that this year Turkey and Russia will increase trade turnover from 33 to 100 billion dollars, which is a real blow to the EU’s guts, not to mention a “great shock” for Kiev, which is already considered by many on the old continent as waste material in the confrontation between Moscow and Washington. And after all, the example of a growing rich Turkey will now influence the elites of France, Germany, Italy and other European countries, who are already thinking about the consequences of the policy of total sanctions against Russia.}

This special geopolitical role of Ankara, which receives huge profits from the development of the Russian market, is also objectively pushing the ruling Turkish elite towards building relations with the bloc being created in the form of the SCO, dominated by Moscow and Beijing. That is why Erdogan applied for the country to join the Shanghai Organization, understanding that a new, most powerful united market with new payment systems is being created, where there will no longer be room for either the dollar or the euro. Moreover, Iran is already entering there on September 15th.

Therefore, only through this prism should we consider the latest news that five Turkish banks have introduced the Russian Mir payment system, which only accelerates this process. This suggests that Turkey gives preference to regional blocs, increasingly moving away from the United States, as it understands that the two represented by Russia and China now have a key influence on the entire Middle East.

Thus, Ankara is in a hurry to board the last carriage of the departing train and even grab a piece of the pie for itself in this game of forming “Greater Eurasia.” After all, those around Erdogan clearly see that Qatar and even Saudi Arabia have already rushed into this bloc.

_{In connection with this, such a metamorphosis occurs in the movements of the “Sultan of all Faithful”, when at first he condemned the special operation in Ukraine and supplied bayraktars to Kyiv, and today he becomes almost the main friend of Russia. It is clear that we should not take all the statements of Turkish circles at face value, since for now it is profitable for them, they are even ready to sell their own mother, but in this new configuration it is now really more interesting for them to play with Moscow and Beijing, and not vice versa.}

The growth of such demonstrative friendship, of course, is also influenced by the above-mentioned disruption of the plan to militarily push through Armenia through the hands of Azerbaijan, which Erdogan probably considered as a trump card in putting pressure on Putin during the upcoming negotiations in Sochi. And now, after the failed blitzkrieg, Ankara only swears even more vehemently of love and good neighborliness with Russia.