Turkey rebuilds ties to Russia on regional issues
Turkey reconsiders its relations with Russia, testing a more pragmatic approach to the region.
Turkey and Russia have had their political differences in the past. This has been most apparent over Syria where the two countries have backed opposing factions in the country’s civil war. Ankara and Moscow have even gone so far as to accuse each other — albeit diplomatically — of prolonging the suffering in Syria.
As indicated in this column in December 2012, however, the already vast and still growing economic cooperation between the two countries — valued at tens of billions of dollars and involving strategic fields like nuclear energy — has ensured that they keep their ties in a positive mode, regardless of political differences.
