Given the warmth reflected by Putin during the Kremlin ceremony, when he also underlined his extremely close dialogue with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one would not be amiss in assuming that all is well in Turkish-Russian ties.
It is Erdogan himself, however, who not so long ago underlined that this was not necessarily the case, especially when it came to Syria.
“Unfortunately, we disagree with Russia over the Syria issue. We have talked about this many times, but we have wasted time, despite our meetings. Russia continues to support [the Syrian regime],” Erdogan told reporters when he was flying back to Turkey from an Oct. 25 visit to Estonia.
Russia has in fact proved to be the main obstacle for Erdogan’s Syria policy, which from the start has been based on getting rid of Bashar al-Assad. Moscow has firmly opposed Turkey in this regard and has used its veto in the UN Security Council to block all resolutions against Assad. Meanwhile, it has continued to arm the Syrian regime against the Free Syrian Army, which is supported by Ankara, and other opposition groups.
Russia’s efforts to restart the Geneva process to achieve a negotiated settlement to the Syrian crisis with the involvement of Assad regime have not gone down well in Ankara either. Both Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu remain staunchly opposed to any proposal that provides Assad and his regime with any degree of legitimacy.