Russian Foreign Minister Calls on UN to Fill UN Special Representative Post Vacancy. Turkey and Russia belong, of course, to different religious realms: the one is overwhelmingly Muslim, the other largely Orthodox. Putin and Erdoğan have managed. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2020. Such was the case with the sale of the S-400 to Turkey. Many observers likened the so-called Network (Set’) case to Stalin’s show trials. The military was defanged thanks to EU-led reforms and, later on, through a series of highly controversial trials. However, Russia as well as Turkey have proven flexible in their day-to-day conducting of foreign policy. The Kremlin propaganda machine blew this argument out of proportion after Putin’s 2012 return to the presidency, and especially with the seizure of Crimea and the war in Ukraine. Yet there appear to be striking parallels throughout the twentieth century in the ways Russians and Turks conceived of the relationship between religion and modernity. Russia and Turkey alternate between geoeconomic partnership with military-industrial cooperation, and jostling, even proxy warring, to see which has dominance from North Africa to the Caspian Sea. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrive for a news conference at the Kremlin, Moscow, March 5, 2020 (AP pool photo by Pavel Golovkin). The constitutional changes of2017 handed all power to Erdoğan, substantially downgrading the Grand National Assembly, the ultimate check on executive authority. … In dealing with a difficult actor like Turkey, Russia has learned three things. It was only in 1906 that the Tsarist Empire adopted a constitution and had its first legislative elections. (2) According to Rostourism (Russian Federal Agency for Tourism). Plotting terrorist attacks during the 2018 presidential election and the World Cup. Expectations that he might, second, that the Motherland, whether Russia, and Libya. Turkey, Russia maintain delicate balance in three hotspots. That is not the case in Russia, where only communists have similar reach, yet are co-opted by the Kremlin. The US has issued sanctions against its fellow Nato ally Turkey over its deployment of a Russian-made missile defence system acquired last year. The EU has a high stake in this matter, and thus it needs to take a proactive stance in favour of pro-democracy forces. First, you need to demonstrate empathy on issues that are sensitive and important to Turkish security. That does not imply that, in contrast to Turkey, the Russian polity is destined to remain authoritarian. Putin and Erdoğan have turned into a diplomatic double act, with the recent agreement for a ceasefire in Idlib being the latest example. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European history. Ties with influential global players such as Russia and China are, according to Erdoğan and his circle, essential to the national interest. Their crime? COVID-19 has put on display its inefficiency and vulnerability. Putin fails to inspire much enthusiasm, but a majority of citizens see no credible alternative. Kavala was promptly taken back into custody, this time on charges of espionage and links to the failed coup in 2016. It has a relatively more competitive political system shaped by decades of democratic development. Vote rigging or removal of elected officials, e.g. Russia has almost no democratic record. In the 2000s, Putin changed the rules, becoming an indispensable arbiter for clans in government: e.g. Likewise, Russia considers Turkey a partner, even though their policies may be at odds, as in Syria and Libya. Read more about: Turkey, Journalists. Their trade partnership was worth $26.1bn in 2019. and centres on tourism and agriculture: 6.7 million Russians visited Turkey in 2019. and Turkey will be the world’s second largest importer of Russian agro-industrial products in 2020. Turkey has followed a rather different historical trajectory. Putin’s third term as president (2012–8) saw Russia drifting further into authoritarianism. And Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile batteries in 2017 shows that military-industrial cooperation is strong, greatly displeasing the US. Yet, Turkey is, and will remain, different from Russia. oligarchs, the siloviki (security elite), and civilian technocrats. For decades, parties of various ideological stripes have vied for votes in competitive elections, bargained, and entered into coalitions to share spoils and governance responsibilities. Igor Delanoë is deputy director of the Franco-Russian Observatory in Moscow. Over the past years, economic stagnation, anti-elite sentiment, and traditionally low levels of trust in public institutions have eroded the regime’s legitimacy. Turkey became exposed to Western liberal norms thanks to NATO and association with the European Economic Community. Checks on the executive branch, from the media all the way to parliament, have been dismantled. Both espouse a vision of a multipolar world free of US hegemony. EU foreign policy, It was the Soviet threat that gave birth to the U.S.-Turkey alliance. That has started to happen only recently. Nevertheless, the EU must take a long-term view and recognise that the next few years are critical for Turkey’s ailing democracy. Their core messages converge: first, that strong leadership is essential for bettering ordinary citizens’ lives, delivering economic growth, and ensuring stability; second, that the Motherland, whether Russia or Turkey, is under threat from “foreign” – read Western – and “domestic enemies” sowing disunity to prevent its rise in the international arena. Turkish-Russian joint center to be ready in 2 weeks Anadolu Agency 16:48 31-Dec-20. The next few years will determine the outcome of the drawn-out struggle for the soul of Turkey. NAT 9th January 2021. (4) See Fiona Hill and Omer Taspinar, ‘Turkey and Russia: Axis of the excluded?’, Survival, vol 48, no 1, London, 2006. Turkish-Russian joint center to be ready in two weeks: Aliyev Hurriyet Daily News 07:24 1-Jan-21. Rather than deliver justice, the court’s mission appeared to be stamping out dissent. Their relationship is all about spheres of influence and balances of power, and their ambitions have brought them into conflict from North Africa to the Caspian, via the Levant and the Black Sea. Foreign policy of a country / a region, In 2018, the international watchdog Freedom House downgraded Turkey from “partly free” to “not free”. Turkey, Rapid growth fuelled by high oil prices made Putin’s rule popular. That said, Turkey is quickly approaching a critical crossroad on its turbulent political journey: The country will either consolidate its authoritarian regime or return to democracy. Politically, the two countries have a similar reading of world affairs, based on suspicion of and frustration with the West; both have an interest in maintaining a multipolar world order that helps them pursue their respective ambitions. Hence, it is critical to understand the gravity of the current time frame and take a pro-active stance in favour of Turkish democracy. Their trade partnership was worth $26.1bn in 2019. and centres on tourism and agriculture: 6.7 million Russians visited Turkey in 2019. and Turkey will be the world’s second largest importer of Russian agro-industrial products in 2020. May 2020, Dimitar Bechev is Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.Suat Kınıklıoğlu is a Fellow at the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) at SWP. Since Turkey’s controversial acquisition of the S-400 missile system from Russia, the narrative that the EU is facing a twin challenge from the East has been gaining currency in European capitals. Turkey and Russia are often portrayed as two authoritarian regimes led by strong leaders who favour an omnipotent state at the expense of fundamental freedoms and liberal democratic institutions. Recently, for instance, Moscow sought US mediation in its oil price dispute with Saudi Arabia. Constitutional changes in Turkey, in force since 2018, transferred all essential powers to President Erdoğan. Turkey–Russia relations are currently fragile and transactional. In Libya a conflict that the US was once … It opened up its political system, abolishing one-party rule after the Second World War. What Erdoğan does – similar to his role model Sultan Abdulhamid II – is play Russia against the West, and vice versa, in pursuit of maximum strategic autonomy. Yet, putting these two countries into the same basket and formulating policies accordingly is problematic. mentary elections and even capture a majority of seats in the Grand National Assembly. The Turkish opposition has adapted and learnt to compete under the presidential regime: coordinating electoral strategies, fielding joint candidates, setting aside ideological differences, etc. Turkey draws road map with Egypt, but will Cairo follow it? In 1993, President Boris Yeltsin used the armed forces to storm and dissolve the opposition-run legislature. Putinism, a product of conditions specific to Russia, is hardly a blueprint either. Elites in both countries tend to espouse strong anti-hegemonic instincts, believe in state strength, and often resort to nationalism and religious conservatism to draw a line against the West. Russia’s Rosatom is building Turkey’s first nuclear power station at Akkuyu, at a cost of $25bn. The Blue Stream pipeline, a section of which crosses the Black Sea, has supplied Russian gas to Turkey since 2003; and this January the smaller TurkStream began to supply southern and southeastern Europe via the Turkish port of Kıyıköy. Russia was demoted back in 2004, at the end of Putin’s first term. Though Putin’s regime is resilient, constitutional amendments do show it is concerned about its long-term survival. Though, overall validity of the vote was only seriously, etc. According to the preliminary data, the next few days suggest exciting developments in Russian-Turkish relations, which seem to have entered a new path after the air operation that targeted a training center for the militants of the Levant Legion (Faylaq Sham) loyal to Erdogan near the borders with Turkey, which adopts this faction and all the factions in the region. Defying expectation… In recent months, Turkish and Russian military patrols on the strategic M4 highway came under fire by a new and opaque militant group called Khattab … Rather than an outpost of NATO or an eternal EU membership candidate, Turkey sees itself as an autonomous power whose writ runs from Libya to Syria and from Sudan to the Gulf. It still has a strong interest in maintaining links with the EU and the US instead of membership in a league of autocrats. The US says Russia's S … Yet, democratisation faltered at two critical junctures. Russia adopted a new constitution that enhanced the role of the executive. 4 Pages, taken back into custody, this time on charges. State and society of a country / a region, (1) According to Russian Federal Customs Service data. Erdoğan controls state resources, major parts of the media, and, most importantly, the Supreme Election Council. The construction of the Turkish-Russian joint monitoring center will be completed in two weeks, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Dec. 31. Comparing Erdoğan and Putin is nothing new. Turkey found itself seeking loans or swap deals from the US and UK and hinted at freezing the deployment of the S-400 air defence system. Through economic and military aid, President Harry Truman tried to prevent Turkey and Greece from falling under Soviet influence in 1947. "Relations between Russia and Turkey are self-sustainable and self-sufficient; they don’t depend on someone’s aggressive and hostile actions and whims," Lavrov said on Tuesday. Being neighbours, these countries have developed many common traits although plenty of differences still remain. Russia and Turkey seem to be in agreement to remove us from Ain Issa and its surrounding areas. Libyan News Agency (LANA) 17:21 31-Dec-20. "Russia and Turkey coordinated their efforts to undermine the SDF, even when the tensions between the two countries had escalated after the shootdown of a Russian Su-24 aircraft. Putin and Erdoğan have managed to keep conflicts under a lid and maximise overlapping interests. Since the end of the Cold War, however, the two countries have established an important economic relationship, and they have set a bold, perhaps unreachable target of $100 billion in bilateral trade. Turkey and Russia have already agreed to set up a joint centre in the region to monitor the Nov. 10 ceasefire, which ended weeks of fighting between Azerbaijan’s troops and … the opposition, the structure of the economy, nist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, repressive. Days before, on 11 February, magistrates in the Russian town of Penza sentenced seven young left-wing activists to 6 to 18 years in prison. Presidents Putin and Erdoğan inspect a Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet, August 2019. Turkey continues to expand its deadly drone capabilities, report reveals. Putin sought to bolster his ratings through assertive foreign policy, opposition to the West, and the appeal to nationalism. But the regime has applied the same tactics much more sparingly in western Turkey. He has demonstrated his ability to manipulate the electoral process through various means: e.g. NAT 9th January 2021. Turkey is not likely to consolidate as an autocratic system, even though such an outcome cannot be dismissed altogether. On the contrary, factors such as a highly educated population, a large middle class, as well as the rising intolerance to corruption and state capture may favour democratic development over the long term. Hence, the EU should strongly support pro-democracy forces in Turkey by increasing its support for civil society, intellectuals, and the remaining independent media. Turkey and Russia are often portrayed as two authoritarian regimes led by strong leaders who favour an omnipotent state at the expense of fundamental freedoms and liberal democratic institutions. World An Assertive Turkey Muscles Into Russia’s Backyard Erdogan extended support for Azerbaijan’s military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, a rare foray into Kremlin’s sphere of influence The two countries have built a geoeconomic partnership based on natural gas and nuclear energy projects. That said, all the way until the mid-2000s, the military limited elected politicians’ authority by intervening in decision-making and staging periodic coups. But, at the same time, their willingness to use military force has seen them sideline EU and Nato powers in the principal conflicts shaping competition for power in the Mediterranean. Russian Federation, Strategic partnerships, Although Russia will remain authoritarian for some time to come, Turkey is approaching a historic crossroad: Either authoritarianism will be consolidated or some sort of return to parliamentary democracy will prevail. Turkey’s Relationship with Russia A source of American disbelief about Turkey’s readiness to buy arms from Russia has been the assumption that Turkey and Russia are fated by geography, history, and culture to be adversaries. These differences bring into question the argument that Turkey and Russia constitute an autocratic bloc. This time it was in the Caucasus, through the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh plateau. Unlike post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe as well as Turkey, elections and democratic institutions turned into a façade, though civil society and, to a lesser degree, media freedoms were not curtailed. Nato. In the Turkish version of the events, Russia has essentially accepted, willy-nilly, Turkey as a co-equal in the South Caucasus, which is supposedly part of Moscow's "near abroad." What also matters is the electoral culture. (3) See Igor Delanoë, ‘Russia extends Black Sea control’, Le Monde diplomatique, English edition, February 2019. mayors from the pro-Kurdish HDP, is part of the toolbox. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants Turkey to regain its strategic role in North (...). Political rights and civil freedoms thrived as never before in the 90s, yet the presidency dominated other branches of government, with Yeltsin being dependent on oligarchs and special interests. Ankara’s assertive foreign policy is an increasing factor in broad geopolitical dispute. However, the Bolshevik takeover in 1917 put an end to gradual liberalisation. Opposition parties (CHP, HDP, and the Iyi Party) are relatively strong in Turkey, despite suppression. An example of such scenario is the recent 10 month crisis following the shooting down of a Russian jet by Turkey which later on they reconciled. Most read . 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