With the visit to his "friend" Vladimir Putin will Recep Tayyip Erdogan West demonstratively backs. Turkish courtship with Russia creates turmoil in the EU and NATO.
Shortly before his departure for Russia, the Turkish president Erdogan West once again well below the pocket. The agreement with the European Union on the reception of migrants in the trash can if the EU does not implement the promised visa exemption for Turks. ,, The EU is not sincere, '' said the president. It has delayed the visa-free access because of a dispute over Turkey's anti-terrorism legislation and concerns about the extent of the repression after the failed coup. ,, The West has the Turkish people abandoned, '' said Erdogan angry.
Partly for that reason seeks the Turkish ruler on his first foreign visit since the attempted coup refuge in Russia to "friend" Putin. She today speak to each other in St. Petersburg , the birthplace of the Russian president. ,, We make a new start, '' Erdogan explains. The quarrel with Putin about the downing of Turkey by a Russian fighter in Syria - according to the Kremlin "a stab in the back" - has been settled. Erdogan offered this summer apologizes, after Putin showed himself willing to put a line through the sanctions which he had punished Turkey seven months ago. Sanctions that have been hurt both countries.
The Turkish tourism sector, for example, suffered heavy blows to the Russian tour operators because no Turkish holidays could sell more. Turkish agricultural products Russia no longer allowed in. In turn, Russia saw the construction of a major pipeline for gas exports via Turkey delayed. Moscow wants to build the first nuclear power plant in Turkey and sees Turkey as a good transit country for European products which it itself should not enter because of Western sanctions after the Crimean annexation.
distrust
,, This is a historic visit because our countries can do a lot for each other, '' Erdogan assures that enough of Western mistrust him. The criticism of the witch hunt on Fethullah Gulen and his supporters - according to Erdogan, the evil genius behind the coup attempt - the ratios do any good. Turkey has since been removed to Germany, Austria, Italy and the European Union. Russia, however, Erdogan supports without any care to comment on his performance after the coup.
EU drivers and NATO diplomats in Brussels following the Turkish-Russian courtship with suspicion. They wonder what the consequences could be for the 'migration deal "with Turkey, NATO member Turkey and the struggle of the international coalition in Syria. If Vladimir Putin is inserted into the relationship between Turkey and the West, he will not let it. ,, But '' said security analyst Fadi Hakura, attached to the think tank Chatham House in London, ,, Turkey can not do without the West. Russia is not an alternative, it can not replace the West. The strategic interests of Turkey aimed Western. Three-quarters of foreign investment comes from Europe, its safety is embedded with NATO. Turkey has with Russia a limited economic and trade relations, based on gas, tourism and construction. ''
According Hakura Europe could learn from the Turkish-Russian courtship. ,, With Erdogan has better things to do if you tackle him hard, as Putin has done. With diplomatic niceties you can not come, '' said the analyst.
By Editorial AD Photo: EPA
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