Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 10
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
Russia and Turkey will resume strategic partnership after the recent crisis in relations, Paul Levin, director at Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies, believes.
“Yesterday’s meeting [between Russian and Turkish presidents] is part of a mutual effort to defrost relations,” Levin told Trend by email.
The expert noted that the two states feel ostracized by the West in many ways.
Meanwhile, Levin believes there are still important differences in Russian and Turkish interests regarding Syria, which will complicate their efforts.
The relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated sharply in late 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with two pilots on board. In June 2016, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the death of a Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident. After that, the two countries’ relations began to improve.
On Aug. 9, Russian and Turkish presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held their first meeting after the Su-24 incident. Following the meeting, Putin said that Russia is interested in the full restoration of bilateral relations with Turkey.