unz | In any event, Putin and Erdogan have settled their differences and
scheduled a meeting for the beginning of August. In other words, the
first world leader Erdogan plans to meet after the coup, is his new
friend, Vladimir Putin. Is Erdogan trying to make a statement? It
certainly looks like it. Here’s the story from the Turkish Daily
Hurriyet:
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet in a face-to-face meeting in August as part of mutual efforts to normalize bilateral ties following months of tension due to the downing of a Russian warplane by the Turkish Air Forces in November…
With the normalization of ties, Russia removed some sanctions on trade and restrictions on Russian tourists, though it will continue to impose visa regime to Turkish nationals. A deeper conversation between the two countries over a number of international issues like Syria and Crimea will follow soon between the two foreign ministers before the Putin-Erdoğan meeting.” (Putin, Erdoğan to meet soon in bid to start new era in Turkey-Russia ties, Hurriyet)
Is it starting to sound like Turkey may have slipped out of
Washington’s orbit and moved on to more reliable friends that will
respect their interests?
Indeed. And this sudden rapprochement could have catastrophic
implications for US Middle East policy. Consider, for example, that the
US not only depends on Turkey’s Incirlik Airbase to conduct its air
campaign in Syria, but also, that that same facility houses “roughly 90
US tactical nuclear weapons.” What if Erdogan suddenly decides that it’s
no longer in Turkey’s interest to provide the US with access to the
base or that he would rather allow Russian bombers and fighters to use
the base? (According to some reports, this is already in the works.)
More importantly, what happens to US plans to pivot to Asia if the
crucial landbridge (Turkey) that connects Europe and Asia breaks with
Washington and joins the coalition of Central Asian states that are
building a new free trade zone beyond Uncle Sam’s suffocating grip?
One last thing: There was an important one-paragraph article in
Moscow Reuters on Monday that didn’t appear in the western press so
we’ll reprint it here:
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s joint projects with Turkey, including the TurkStream undersea natural gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey, are still on the agenda and have a future, RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as saying on Monday.” (Russian Dep PM says joint projects with Turkey still on agenda, Reuters)
This is big. Erdogan is now reopening the door the Obama team tried
so hard to shut. This is a major blow to Washington’s plan to control
the vital resources flowing into Europe from Asia and to make sure they
remain denominated in US dollars. If the agreement pans out, Putin will
have access to the thriving EU market through the southern corridor
which will strengthen ties between the two continents, expand the use of
the ruble and euro for energy transactions, and create a free trade
zone from Lisbon to Vladivostok. And Uncle Sam will be watching from the
sidelines.
All of a sudden, Washington’s “pivot” plan looks to be in serious trouble.
