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CAUTIOUS PARTNERS TURKEY, RUSSIA TO TALK TIES, RIVALRIES
By Thomas Grove
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/russia-turkey-idUSL6E8IHAPL20120717
July 18 2012
MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - A gleaming skyscraper rises from the
ultra-modern financial centre in the heart of Moscow, dwarfing
cathedral cuppolas and bombastic Stalinist highrises, a symbol of
how far Turkish business has come in the former Cold War rival.
The distinctive Turkish-built steel and glass towers of Naberezhnaya,
the second tallest skyscraper in Russia, will serve as a powerful
backdrop when President Vladimir Putin hosts visiting Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan in the Kremlin on Wednesday to talk business,
energy and regional power politics.
Projects by construction company Enka underscore Erdogan's signature
mix of business and politics that has expanded NATO-member Turkey's
presence in the Middle East, Africa and former Soviet Union, where
Russia still jealously guards its interests.
"Turkey today is much more assertive and independent than it was 20
years ago. It wants to be not only a part of NATO and American-led
alliances, but also an independent player in the whole area," said
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.
But Turkey's regional aspirations in areas where Moscow is sensitive
to its waning influence have complicated an already intricate
relationship in which cooperation in trade and energy politics is
set off by conflicting regional foreign policies.
"Turkey and Russia resemble each other; they have the same claims.
Psychologically, Putin and Erdogan understand each other quite well,
but at the same time all their interests do not coincide. For example,
we see that in the Middle East."
Almost a year after the death of Russian ally Muammar Gadaffi in
Libya, Moscow and Ankara are at diplomatic loggerheads over the fate
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Once photographed with Assad and his family at a vacation resort
before anti-government uprisings demanding his departure, Erdogan
has since turned his back on the former ally, calling for his removal
and hosting Syrian rebel fighters on its soil.
Turkey's ire was raised last month when Syria, recipient of Russian
air defence systems, downed a fighter jet that it claimed was in its
airspace. The incident forced Ankara to call on the other member states
of NATO for consultations over what it called an "act of aggression".
Putin however, fearing a replay of the Libyan scenario, has continued
sending Assad arms and has protected him from harsher sanctions at
the U.N. Security Council.
Moscow would be loath to see its last stronghold in the Middle East
fall - especially one that hosts a small naval maintenance and repair
facility, Russia's only naval base outside of the former Soviet Union.
DIVIDED LOYALTIES
Indicating that Erdogan may work to try to influence Putin's position
over Syria, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters that
new unilateral sanctions against Syria may be passed after Erdogan
returns from Moscow.
"I can say assuredly that new horizons will open up on this subject
(Syria) after our prime minister's visit to Russia and that new
sanctions against Syria will come onto the agenda," Arinc told
reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Russia, for its part, has made clear it has no plans to back sanctions
against Assad. It h as stressed it will not agree to negotiations
that make his departure a precondition.
Russia and Turkey are also aware of their differences in the South
Caucasus region where their respective loyalties to Armenia and
Azerbaijan divide them in the frozen conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh.
War between ethnic Azeris and Armenians erupted in 1991 over the
mostly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region, which broke away from Muslim
Azerbaijan with the backing of Christian Armenia as the Soviet Union
collapsed two decades ago.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in a gesture of solidarity with
ethnic kin in Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia,
on the other hand, maintains an army base in Armenia.
"In the Caucasus there is always a potential rivalry (between Russia
and Turkey)," said Lukyanov.
DEPENDENCE
Turkish construction firm Enka restored Moscow's White House in
1994 after then President Boris Yeltsin ordered tanks to fire at
parliamentarians holed up in the building during a rebellion against
his leadership.
Analysts say the construction projects Turkish firms receive are part
of a complex tit-for-tat exchange between the two countries that has
seen Turkey raise the amount of gas it buys from Russia to nearly
half its total imports.
In 2008 Russia overtook Germany as Turkey's biggest trading partner,
the lion's share of which has come from natural gas contracts.
Turkey hopes to use its geographic location between oil rich states on
the Caspian and energy hungry Europe to boost its clout as an energy
transit hub and has looked primarily to Russia and Azerbaijan to fill
that role.
Ankara's dependency on Moscow has led some analysts to speculate
that while the two countries have their differences, Erdogan may be
going to make sure Putin understands the two countries are still by
and large partners.
"It won't be suprising for Erdogan to knock on the Kremlin walls
trying to persuade Putin (over Syria) and get no response," wrote
columnist Sami Kohen in Milliyet newspaper.
"However, from the point of view of minimising the effect of the
shadow Syria has cast across their relationship, it will be important
and helpful to continue a sincere dialogue."
Turkey has approved Russia's plans to allow the almost $20 billion
South Stream pipeline, which aims to supply southern Europe with
63 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year, to pass under its
territorial waters.
Even with Turkey's permission to build the pipeline through its waters,
Ankara may still use the line as a chip in negotiations over gaining
enough gas for its own domestic supply. (Additional reporting by
Daren Butler in Istanbul and Orhan Coskun in Ankara; editing by
Ralph Boulton)
By Thomas Grove
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/17/russia-turkey-idUSL6E8IHAPL20120717
July 18 2012
MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - A gleaming skyscraper rises from the
ultra-modern financial centre in the heart of Moscow, dwarfing
cathedral cuppolas and bombastic Stalinist highrises, a symbol of
how far Turkish business has come in the former Cold War rival.
The distinctive Turkish-built steel and glass towers of Naberezhnaya,
the second tallest skyscraper in Russia, will serve as a powerful
backdrop when President Vladimir Putin hosts visiting Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan in the Kremlin on Wednesday to talk business,
energy and regional power politics.
Projects by construction company Enka underscore Erdogan's signature
mix of business and politics that has expanded NATO-member Turkey's
presence in the Middle East, Africa and former Soviet Union, where
Russia still jealously guards its interests.
"Turkey today is much more assertive and independent than it was 20
years ago. It wants to be not only a part of NATO and American-led
alliances, but also an independent player in the whole area," said
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.
But Turkey's regional aspirations in areas where Moscow is sensitive
to its waning influence have complicated an already intricate
relationship in which cooperation in trade and energy politics is
set off by conflicting regional foreign policies.
"Turkey and Russia resemble each other; they have the same claims.
Psychologically, Putin and Erdogan understand each other quite well,
but at the same time all their interests do not coincide. For example,
we see that in the Middle East."
Almost a year after the death of Russian ally Muammar Gadaffi in
Libya, Moscow and Ankara are at diplomatic loggerheads over the fate
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Once photographed with Assad and his family at a vacation resort
before anti-government uprisings demanding his departure, Erdogan
has since turned his back on the former ally, calling for his removal
and hosting Syrian rebel fighters on its soil.
Turkey's ire was raised last month when Syria, recipient of Russian
air defence systems, downed a fighter jet that it claimed was in its
airspace. The incident forced Ankara to call on the other member states
of NATO for consultations over what it called an "act of aggression".
Putin however, fearing a replay of the Libyan scenario, has continued
sending Assad arms and has protected him from harsher sanctions at
the U.N. Security Council.
Moscow would be loath to see its last stronghold in the Middle East
fall - especially one that hosts a small naval maintenance and repair
facility, Russia's only naval base outside of the former Soviet Union.
DIVIDED LOYALTIES
Indicating that Erdogan may work to try to influence Putin's position
over Syria, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters that
new unilateral sanctions against Syria may be passed after Erdogan
returns from Moscow.
"I can say assuredly that new horizons will open up on this subject
(Syria) after our prime minister's visit to Russia and that new
sanctions against Syria will come onto the agenda," Arinc told
reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Russia, for its part, has made clear it has no plans to back sanctions
against Assad. It h as stressed it will not agree to negotiations
that make his departure a precondition.
Russia and Turkey are also aware of their differences in the South
Caucasus region where their respective loyalties to Armenia and
Azerbaijan divide them in the frozen conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh.
War between ethnic Azeris and Armenians erupted in 1991 over the
mostly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region, which broke away from Muslim
Azerbaijan with the backing of Christian Armenia as the Soviet Union
collapsed two decades ago.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in a gesture of solidarity with
ethnic kin in Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russia,
on the other hand, maintains an army base in Armenia.
"In the Caucasus there is always a potential rivalry (between Russia
and Turkey)," said Lukyanov.
DEPENDENCE
Turkish construction firm Enka restored Moscow's White House in
1994 after then President Boris Yeltsin ordered tanks to fire at
parliamentarians holed up in the building during a rebellion against
his leadership.
Analysts say the construction projects Turkish firms receive are part
of a complex tit-for-tat exchange between the two countries that has
seen Turkey raise the amount of gas it buys from Russia to nearly
half its total imports.
In 2008 Russia overtook Germany as Turkey's biggest trading partner,
the lion's share of which has come from natural gas contracts.
Turkey hopes to use its geographic location between oil rich states on
the Caspian and energy hungry Europe to boost its clout as an energy
transit hub and has looked primarily to Russia and Azerbaijan to fill
that role.
Ankara's dependency on Moscow has led some analysts to speculate
that while the two countries have their differences, Erdogan may be
going to make sure Putin understands the two countries are still by
and large partners.
"It won't be suprising for Erdogan to knock on the Kremlin walls
trying to persuade Putin (over Syria) and get no response," wrote
columnist Sami Kohen in Milliyet newspaper.
"However, from the point of view of minimising the effect of the
shadow Syria has cast across their relationship, it will be important
and helpful to continue a sincere dialogue."
Turkey has approved Russia's plans to allow the almost $20 billion
South Stream pipeline, which aims to supply southern Europe with
63 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year, to pass under its
territorial waters.
Even with Turkey's permission to build the pipeline through its waters,
Ankara may still use the line as a chip in negotiations over gaining
enough gas for its own domestic supply. (Additional reporting by
Daren Butler in Istanbul and Orhan Coskun in Ankara; editing by
Ralph Boulton)