As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lifted a veto this week on Sweden joining NATO, Russian hard-liners, stung by a flurry of recent Turkish gestures of support for Ukraine, demanded that Turkey be designated an “unfriendly” country.
The pro-Western moves by Turkey, including Erdogan’s warm welcome of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul on Friday, led to speculation that Turkey was pivoting to restore warmer relations with Europe and the United States after several years of close cooperation with Moscow.
Russian analyst Sergei Markov said that Erdogan’s decision to hand over the leaders of the Azov Brigade to Zelensky “sent shock waves through Russia,” because Moscow considered the regiment to be “a symbol of Ukrainian neo-Nazism and war crimes against the Russian population.” Pragmatic relations between Moscow and Ankara would continue, “but without trust between the leaders,” he said.
“This has never been a secret for us. We have never worn rose-colored glasses in this respect,” Peskov said Tuesday. He said Russia would continue to pursue common interests important to both countries.Turkey and Russia have been on opposite sides in the Syrian and Libyan conflicts, but relations between the two leaders had remained surprisingly close, even as Moscow’s relations with NATO plummeted.
Before the recent elections in Turkey, Erdogan won help from Moscow to contend with an unusually strong opposition challenge, when Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom deferred a $600 million gas payment until 2024.But afterward, he adopted a number of Turkish opposition campaign pledges as his own, including the pursuit of better relations with the West. On Monday, he called for the European Union to “open the way” for Turkey to join, after its application stalled in 2019.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
President Biden says he'll be in office 'the next 5 years' during meeting with Turkish PresidentTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met personally with President Biden at the NATO summit, where the U.S. leader suggested he would remain in office for a second term.
Read more »
Türkiye 'more hopeful than ever' over F-16 purchase from US: ErdoganTürkiye is 'more hopeful than ever' about its F-16 purchase from the US, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says at end of NATO leaders’ summit in Lithuania
Read more »
Türkiye starting new process with US: President ErdoganTürkiye is “starting a new process” with the US, says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as he met with his US counterpart Joe Biden on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO summit in Vilnius
Read more »
President Erdogan meets world leaders on 2nd day of NATO summitThe 31 leaders of the military alliance gathered to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sweden's NATO bid, and steps to strengthen the group's defence and deterrence, among other issues.
Read more »
WATCH LIVE: President Biden meets with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy | Fox Business VideoZelenskyy was outraged after Biden rejected Ukraine's NATO membership.
Read more »
Trump decries Biden's decision to send cluster munitions to UkraineFormer President Donald Trump denounced President Joe Biden's decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.
Read more »