Has Turkey finally made nice with Russia?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s apology appears to have broken the ice with Russia, but the relationship still needs time to thaw.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have had their first phone conversation in seven months. After the 42-minute talk, Putin, speaking at a government session, said the pair had agreed to resume bilateral relations.
The news came just hours after Turkey suffered a terrorist attack June 28 at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. In only one day, the image of Turkey in the Russian media was transformed dramatically from “accomplices” to “victims” of terrorists.
Certainly the letter sent from Erdogan to Putin the day before gave the process a boost. The letter, with apologies for the Nov. 24 downing of a Russian warplane, was the culmination of numerous attempts by Turkish leadership to reconcile with the Kremlin. But the U-turn in Russian rhetoric and policies is even more amazing, taking into account the reaction that letter first spurred — ranging from victorious bravado to restrained contentment.
“The letter, even though addressed personally to President Putin, is an important sign for Russia as it essentially signals that the line of behavior our country chose proves it was 100% correct and accurate,” said Sen. Konstantin Kosachev, formerly Putin’s private envoy for post-Soviet states.
