Turkey and Russia have had their political differences in the past. This has been most apparent over Syria where the two countries have backed opposing factions in the country’s civil war. Ankara and Moscow have even gone so far as to accuse each other — albeit diplomatically — of prolonging the suffering in Syria. 

As indicated in this column in December 2012, however, the already vast and still growing economic cooperation between the two countries — valued at tens of billions of dollars and involving strategic fields like nuclear energy — has ensured that they keep their ties in a positive mode, regardless of political differences.

This was apparent again during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to St. Petersburg on Nov. 21-22 where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin on Syria and Iran, as well as a host of other issues of mutual interest.

On the economic side, the two countries vowed to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2020. The figure reached $35 billion in 2012. The two countries are also finalizing a $20 billion investment by Russia for building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.