Erdogan determined not to let anything spoil his relation with Putin
An article in one of the prominent media institutions has posted an interesting article about Turkey and President Erdogan regarding the Ukraine conflict. The author has shared following in regards:
“Most Turks feel close to Ukraine. But President Erdogan’s habit of provoking the West and making concessions to Russia is also having an effect. According to a recent opinion poll, 73 percent of Turks want their country to remain neutral about Ukraine. The proportion of those who think that Russia is responsible for the war is only 34 percent. 48 percent blame the United States and NATO. Erdogan seems determined not to let anything, including war crimes, spoil his relationship with Putin.”
At this point, the Economist recalls that Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman of Putin who the author refers to as the “dictator of Russia,” used the expression “our relations with Turkey are wonderful” on April 2nd.
Russian oligarchs allowed to bring in their investments to Turkey
On the other hand, “Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had said on March 26 that Russian oligarchs would be able to bring their investments to Turkey as long as they respected international law. Erdogan also said he would “keep the doors open”. In a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, he suggested that trade between Turkey and Russia should be conducted in rubles, Chinese yuan or gold. Turkey, already facing American sanctions for the purchase of a Russian air defense system (S-400), had not ruled out the possibility of concluding new arms agreements with Russia.
