Turkey and Russia have begun to mend the bridges that were burned during the airplane crisis, with the leaders of the two countries signaling “strong cooperation” at the Istanbul summit yesterday. In the field of energy, which is one of the cornerstones of relations, the signatures for the Turkish Stream further cemented Ankara-Moscow ties. The closeness of the two leaders and their sincere poses strengthened the observations that the days of crisis had been wiped clean and that the “normalization” process would continue “step by step” in practice, albeit not as fast as the Turkish side would like. Although the concrete steps expected by the business community in Russia have not yet been taken, the general view is that the clouds have largely dissipated in Turkey-Russia relations and the road is clear, unless new “dark clouds” accumulate due to the Syrian crisis.
Some of the outcomes of yesterday’s summit can be summarized as follows:
- The two leaders returned to their cordial relations, which had suffered a major blow during the airplane crisis. The photo of Erdogan and Putin together strengthened the interpretations that “resentments were forgotten, the Russian side came to the conclusion that there were other reasons behind the plane crisis, and that it wanted to keep good relations with Erdogan”.
- Putin hinted at the possible dimension of strategic relations with Turkey by personally expressing the two countries’ intention to make Turkey an “energy hub”. It was also suggested that projects such as TANAP and Turkish Stream would not be rivals, but rather an opportunity to create an “energy partnership” between Russia-Turkey-Azerbaijan.
- Russia had previously denied the necessary permits for the Turkish Stream because it could not get the natural gas discount requested by Botaş. Now it is reported that Gazprom has received a discount guarantee and negotiations will only be held on the rate. The Russian press is also emphasizing that Putin promised Turkey a gas discount today.
- The Russian side’s signing of the Turkish Stream agreement at a time when the South Stream project has fallen through is said to be a message to the West that “we are still strong in energy” and that Ankara and Moscow are taking a “common stance” against the EU. Since there are many shocked countries in the EU that are ready to buy gas from Russia through the new line, this project is likely to widen the rift in EU energy policies.
- On Syria, despite the media’s message of “continuing dialog despite differences of opinion”, the policies of the two sides are still far apart. The fate of Assad is on the table as the most important point of difference. However, Russia’s measured reaction to the Euphrates Shield operation from the beginning is attributed to the two sides’ efforts to “not allow other issues to disrupt the course of bilateral trade-economic relations” by learning from the plane crisis incident.
- It is understood that the summit focused on energy projects and Syria, while detailed issues in bilateral relations were referred to ministers. The fact that the ban on fresh fruit and vegetables does not cover tomatoes is explained by Russia’s determination to protect its domestic producers. The demands of the Turkish business world, especially work permits, were left to the KEK meeting and negotiations between ministries. In other words, Russia is in no “hurry” to give.
- It is understood that Russia is committed to the “gradual normalization” policy announced by Putin on the first day and that the demands from Turkey will be met “gradually”. The bans stemming from the sanctions are expected to be lifted by the end of the year. On the visa issue, for the time being, “visa-free regime for businessmen” is on the agenda. The lifting of tourist visas is not on the table as long as the state of emergency continues in Turkey.
Source:www.turkrus.com
