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On 13 November in Sochi hosted a meeting of presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Dmitry Peskov, the presidents "conducted an audit of bilateral relations", and then the delegations in the extended format, was talking about Syria. In total, the negotiations lasted more than four hours, which testifies to their deep nature and the broad set of the issues. Previously had telephone conversations between Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan, on 21 and 29 October, not counting the five personal meetings at the highest level. The frequency of contacts speaks for itself.
On the eve of the arrival in Russia, the Turkish leader in his characteristic emotionally extravagant manner suggested Washington and Moscow to withdraw its troops from the territory of Syria, "it is Said that military means crisis is not solved. Then let them withdraw their military, solution to the crisis will be political. Let's work together to find ways for the elections there.“ Although Erdogan knows that the Russian military, unlike the us, are in Syria on a legal basis.
During the meeting, Vladimir Putin said the joint work of Russia, Turkey and Iran as guarantors of the negotiation process in Astana. Reducing violence creates "favorable conditions for promoting inter-Syrian dialogue under the auspices of the UN." This, however, does not negate the need for further efforts on long-term stabilization of the situation, as fighting in several districts, and the North-Western "area Descalzi" in Idlib province in large part is controlled by terrorist groups. Saying that the creation of "zones of de-escalation" has made a major contribution to the resolution of the Syrian conflict, Erdogan said appeared grounds for political peace in the region. During the final press conference, he stated that it attached great importance to the statement on Syria, agreed by the leaders of Russia and the United States during the APEC summit in da Nang.
The Turkish side remains concerned isolated from the main territory Rozhava (inhabited by the Kurdish cantons of Syria) Kurdish Canton of Afrin, where at the invitation of the local leadership of the democratic Union Party is the monitoring mission of Russian troops. A number of indirect signs, Ankara has repeatedly asked Moscow to withdraw this mission, but it would only lead to another escalation. More broadly the Turkish leadership is categorically against the participation of the Kurdish political parties and groups in a prospective Congress of national dialogue in Syria. Previously, the date of the event, which was supposed to discuss the future of the national-state structure of the country, was called on November 18, but now we are talking about December.
If Turkish partners is paramount "the Kurdish factor", it's the eradication of the terrorist gangs in Idlib, which is easy to change the flag (e.g., "Ahrar al-sham" becomes "al-Nusra Dzhebhat"), but not the essence. Not clear where it can turn the weapons to local Pro-Turkish formation, how their actions will be consistent with the long-lasting peace. After a limited time Turkish divisions in North-West Syria, the information about the attempts of the Turkish secret services to negotiate with radical Islamists on the delimitation of spheres of influence, can not but cause issues. On 30 October the special representative of the President of Russia on Syria Lavrentiev said: "Moscow hopes that Turkey will fulfill its obligations to stabilize the situation in the zone of de-escalation in the Syrian province of Idlib, where there is a threat of occurrence of radical groups". "Turkey will destroy any terrorist camps found in Iraq and Syria," – said in early November, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. – "A successful operation between the cities Dzharablus and al-Bab and Idlib will be continued. Turkey should not pay for the lives of its citizens in fighting terrorists who are abroad.“ Words are good but it is equally important that they are matched by deeds.
As shown by the vicissitudes of Russian-Turkish dialogue (for example, the recent ban of entry into the Turkish ports of ships from the Crimea or the conflict over fees for certain types of agricultural products), problems and contradictions in the relations of the parties are. They have to solve manually. "Our contacts have continued and are continuing on elimination of all existing problems, – said the Turkish leader. Last month in Kazan ended the work of the intergovernmental Commission, and we were pleased to learn that during this meeting a decision was reached on the facilitation of the import of such goods to Russia, like eggplants, tomatoes, grenades and other crops. We wish all the other restrictions were also removed“.
Erdogan also attaches special importance to joint efforts with Russia in the defense industry. Earlier appeared information on possible deliveries to Turkey anti-aircraft missile systems s-400. If you believe the Turkish leader on this issue, "we were said, papers signed. There are some technical details, we will discuss them in the framework of my visit with the participation of our specialists from the Ministry of defence including. Want to take steps to make it happen“.
Note, the above-mentioned "details" can be important, for, as the ongoing leaks, the Turks showed a persistent interest in technology of manufacturing of advanced Russian weapons systems. The Russian presidential aide on military-technical cooperation Vladimir Kozhin said earlier[2] that the question of the transfer of Turkey's production technology systems s-400 is not discussed. In this regard, not to mention signed recently by Turkey, France and Italy agreement[3] on cooperation on joint projects in the military sphere, including air and missile defense system. The prospects for the emergence in the Turkish army and Russian weapons systems cause the partners of Ankara, NATO's blatant concern.
There are nuances in terms of cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. "The atomic energy Agency of Turkey continues to do everything possible to ensure that the Foundation laying ceremony of the nuclear power plant "Akkuyu" was held by the end of this or early next year with the participation of heads of two States", – said in October the Minister of energy and natural resources of Turkey B. Albayrak. The first reactor built by Rosatom forces are extremely expensive (20-22 billion.) NPP Akkuyu is planned to start in 2023, in a symbolic hundred year anniversary of the "new Turkey". However, about whether it will be possible to meet these deadlines, some doubts remain. So, six years after the signing of the intergovernmental agreement by the Turkish partners have not issued[4] two key license for NPP construction and electricity generation.
Vladimir Putin believes that relations between Moscow and Ankara was practically restored in full, including the growth of trade and cooperation in all areas. For 8 months last year, mutual trade increased compared to the same period last year by almost 22 % (by estimations of Minister of energy A. Novak – almost one-third).
Not to mention the tone of some comments in the Turkish press: the impression that they are addressed... to Donald Trump. "Regular meetings between Erdogan and Putin to discuss regional conflicts and mutual relations should serve as an example for us President" – such, for example, the subtitle of his article[5] shall Ilnur Cevik of the Daily Sabah.
As before, mutually benevolent statements are not guarantees of bilateral Russian-Turkish dialogue from the unexpected. Punching profitable projects with Russia, Ankara did not forget about the traditional allies in Europe and across the Atlantic. Concurrently with the APEC summit in Vietnam hosted a visit by a representative of the Turkish delegation headed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in the United States. The talks were designed to smooth out the rough edges in Turkish-American dialogue, including the "visa issue" (visas, stopped after the arrest of an employee of the American Consulate in Istanbul, it was partially restored, but the crisis is not fully resolved). Most likely, the Turkish Prime Minister meeting with the Vice-President of the United States Pensions will stop the further degradation of relations. Informed following the meeting of defence Ministers of NATO countries in Brussels, the head of the Pentagon John. Mattis assured his Turkish counterpart Nurettin Canikli in support of the struggle of Ankara against the PKK and other "terrorist threats".
New nuances of balancing the foreign policy of Turkey between Moscow, Washington and Brussels can manifest itself in different ways in the near future. Active military and political-diplomatic efforts of Russia in the middle East led to a partial revision of the old line of the Turks for the overthrow of Assad through the support of radical groups of the "armed opposition". Positive changes have taken place. However, it is important that they become more stable and predictable, free from excessive expectations. This applies to many aspects of Russian-Turkish relations: it is important to understand that they are intrinsically valuable, regardless of the "American" or "European" factors.
Source of information: http://trueinform.ru/modules.php?name=Laid&username=fondsk Фонд СК
