Erdogan’s trip to Russia a pragmatic move

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived Russia on Tuesday for his first meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin since the two strongmen began healing a bitter feud over Ankara’s downing of a Russian warplane last November.
The shooting down of a Russian jet saw a furious Putin slap economic sanctions on Turkey and launch a bitter war of words. Putin accused Erdogan of stabbing Russia in the back and profiting from an illegal oil trade with the IS group. Moscow imposed trade sanctions and suspended Russian package tours to Turkey.
It delivered a big blow to trade. Turkey’s exports to Russia in the first half of this year fell to $737m (£567m) — a 60.5% slump compared to the same period last year.
The dispute put two major joint energy projects on hold – the TurkStream gas pipeline across the Black Sea and the Akkuyu nuclear plant being built by Russia’s Rosatom in Turkey.
Before the dispute, Russia was a major export market for Turkish fruit and vegetables – so now Turkey is anxious to get the Russian import ban lifted.
Both countries clinched a deal to normalise relations in secret talks in the Uzbek capital Tashkent following mediation by figures including a prominent Turkish businessman and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In late June, Putin accepted a letter expressing regret over the incident from Erdogan as an apology and quickly rolled back a ban on the sale of package holidays to Turkey and signalled Moscow would end measures against Turkish food imports and construction firms.
It is Erdogan’s first foreign visit since an attempted coup last month. This trip by the Turkish president is important in many aspects. It comes when Turkey’s ties with the West have cooled over criticism of a crackdown on alleged coup-plotters.
Before leaving Turkey, Erdogan referred to President Putin as his ‘friend’ and said he wanted to open a new page in relations with Russia.
“This visit strikes me as a new milestone in our bilateral relations, starting again from a clean slate,” Erdogan told Russia’s Tass news agency.
Now in the wake of the failed July 15 coup attempt, there are fears in Western capitals that NATO-member Turkey could draw even closer to Moscow—with Erdogan bluntly making it clear he feels let down by the United States and the European Union.
Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to phone Erdogan offering support after the coup attempt and shares none of the scruples of EU leaders about the ensuing crackdown.
Although, Erdogan’s Russia visit is a welcome sign for both the countries, but after such a bitter dispute it will take a lot for the pair to reheat relations.
Earlier uptick in relations was built on a macho friendship between Putin and Erdogan. What we are going to see now is a longer-lasting but more pragmatic type of relationship built not on a personal friendship or ideology but on common material interests.
The trip will be Erdogan’s chance to show Turkish society that he’s not isolated. Erdogan is also demanding the US extradite Fethullah Gulen, the preacher he blames for the military uprising, and can use the meeting with Putin to send a message to Washington.