New Turkey-Russia hotline still subject to static
Russia and Turkey are effusive about the positive gains in their relationship, but ties remain tenuous where Syria is concerned.
Only a year or so ago, Russian and Turkish newspapers were digging up reports of the last war between the countries and speculating what would happen if a new one broke out. But things are moving fast. The military channel of the dialogue that began with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s apology letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin was extended with the Sept. 15 visit of Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov to Ankara.
A visit by the chief of staff after an 11-year hiatus is itself an important development, made even more so because it came soon after Turkey’s intervention in the Syrian war and coincides with the ongoing debate over Black Sea domination. At the end, the official statements of both sides were sweeter than honey.
