The limits to Ankara’s reliance on Moscow
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Moscow visit last week enabled Ankara to show Europe it has alternatives, but thorns continue to exist in the side of Turkish-Russian ties.
Turkey’s deepening crisis with Europe has re-energized its desire to expand ties with Russia. Ankara clearly wants to show that it has powerful friends that can reduce its dependence on the United States and Europe. This also works to Moscow’s advantage, given its problems with the West and barely concealed desire to undermine NATO.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Moscow last week came at an opportune moment for Ankara in this regard. Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks within the context of the High-Level Cooperation Council established between the two countries in 2010, which was meeting for the sixth time.
