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| Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Konstantin palace outside St.Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. President Erdogan travels to Russia to meet with President Putin for the first time since apologizing in late June for the downing of a Russian fighter jet along the Syrian border in November last year. |
ST.
PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Turkey's president cozied up to his
"dear friend" Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a visit intended to send a
message to his allies in the West, whom he blames for what he considers a
lack of support after a failed coup.
President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pressed the United States to extradite the man
he claims was behind the failed insurrection, and has sought more funds
and visa-free travel from the European Union, but it's unclear what
leverage improved ties with Russia could give him.
Putin,
in turn, expects Turkey to become more accommodating of Russia's
interests in Syria and move faster on major energy projects - demands
Ankara could find difficult to meet.
After
their talks in St. Petersburg's ornate Konstantin Palace, both leaders
emphasized their shared desire to rebuild ties, but it remained unclear
if they could reach common ground on the Syrian crisis. While Moscow has
backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation's civil war
and further bolstered that support by launching an air campaign last
September, Turkey has pushed for Assad's removal and helped his foes.
Putin
said he and Erdogan would have a separate discussion on Syria later
Tuesday involving top diplomats and intelligence officials.
Repeatedly
calling Putin his "dear friend," Erdogan refrained from mentioning any
sticking points after the talks, saying he expects ties to fully blossom
again soon. He said Turkey is ready to implement a natural gas pipeline
project proposed by Moscow and a deal for Russia to build Turkey's
first nuclear power plant.
Both projects were
announced years earlier, but had been held back by commercial disputes
even before Turkey's downing of a Russian jet at the Syrian border last
November.
The shoot-down, which Putin called a
"treacherous stab in the back," brought relations to a freezing point
where they remained for seven months until Erdogan apologized to Russia
in June. Putin responded by ordering his government to start rebuilding
ties with Turkey, and when Erdogan faced the botched coup attempt on
July 15 the Russian leader quickly offered his support.
Erdogan
emphasized that pledge of support, saying "it was very important for us
psychologically. It offered us moral support and showed Russia's
solidarity with Turkey."
While Putin also spoke of rebuilding ties, he sounded more cautious, warning that it will take time to fully restore them.
Moscow
has accused the Turkish government of turning a blind eye to the flow
of weapons and supplies to the Islamic State group and other extremists
in Syria. While the Kremlin has tempered its rhetoric amid the
rapprochement, Putin will most certainly push Erdogan to cut support for
the rebels engaged in a fierce battle with Assad's forces in Aleppo.
Moscow
could use economic levers to force Turkey to compromise on Syria.
Turkey badly needs the flow of Russian tourists to resume, and Turkish
farmers, construction companies and other businesses badly need to
regain access to the Russian market, which has been shut to them after
the plane's downing.
Putin said Tuesday that
charter flights to Turkey could resume "in the near future," but added
that "painstaking work is ahead to revive trade and economic
cooperation."
"This process has been launched, but it will take some time," the Russian leader said.
While
ties with Russia can't substitute Turkey's economic and security
cooperation with the U.S. and the EU and its membership in NATO, Erdogan
clearly hopes to use the Russia card to strengthen his hand in disputes
with his Western partners.
Turkey has pressed
the United States hard to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric
the government blames for the failed coup. Gulen has repeatedly denied
any involvement.
The dispute has strained
U.S.-Turkish ties, with some Turkish officials implying Washington could
have been behind the coup. The Obama administration has strongly denied
that.
Speaking after the talks with Putin,
Erdogan reiterated his contention that Gulen was behind the failed
insurrection and alleged that the coup plotters were also responsible
for the crisis in relations with Russia. He didn't touch on Ankara's
demand for Gulen's extradition.
The failed
coup saw renegade Turkish military officers using jets, helicopters and
tanks try to take power in a night of violence that left more than 270
people dead. Since then, about 18,000 people have been detained or
arrested and nearly 70,000 others suspected of links to Gulen have been
suspended or dismissed from the civil service, judiciary, education,
health care and the military.
Turkish
officials have fumed at expressions of concern over the sweeping
crackdown from European officials and rights groups, and accused the
West of failing to show support for a democratically elected government.
Ankara also lashed out at the EU for failing to uphold its end of an
EU-Turkey agreement on migration.
The deal,
struck in March, helped stem the flow of migrants from Turkey to the
nearby Greek islands in exchange for an EU pledge of funds and visa-free
travel for Turks. But plans to ease visa rules have run into trouble
and Erdogan accused the EU earlier this month of failing to deliver the
promised funds.
In contrast with his criticism
of the U.S. and the EU, Erdogan heaped praise on Putin for offering
support after the coup, saying: "We are strongly determined to take our
relations to the pre-crisis and even higher level."
Putin responded in kind, saying that "higher interests of our peoples, our nations require the restoration of our ties."
