Turkish-Russian relations were among the potential victims of this year’s commemoration in Yerevan marking the centenary of the Armenian genocide. President Vladimir Putin, whose close ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have frequently been highlighted, was singled out by Ankara after his strong remarks on the events of 1915, and his attendance of the ceremony in Yerevan to commemorate the Armenian victims of that period.

Putin’s emphatic use of the term genocide — which Turkey rejects — angered both Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who did not hold back in expressing their disappointment and using sharp language in return.

In its official response, Ankara told Moscow to take a better look at what it has done in Ukraine in the past, and is doing there today, and to also remember the crimes against humanity it perpetrated in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

The unprecedented manner in which Ankara lashed out at Putin also resulted in questions as to whether Turkish-Russian ties can survive this crisis. These ties are already marked by deep differences over issues such as Syria, the Crimean Peninsula and Cyprus. These issues, though, were never allowed in the past to overshadow the vast economic interest the two countries share, and the growing cooperation in the strategic field of energy.