Can fragile Ankara-Moscow friendship survive Russian strike?
Though Turkey and Russia are working ever more closely together in Syria, the two cautious allies are holding back over their policy disconnects and incidents like the Russian airstrike that killed four Turkish soldiers near al-Bab.
Despite Turkey's fast-developing political and economic ties with Russia and the cooperation between the two countries in Syria, doubts are emerging on the Turkish side. Russian statements also show that the relationship is not a bed of roses.
Moscow’s push for a secular constitution for a federated Syria has ruffled Turkish feathers. Ankara wants Syria’s Islamic character preserved and is cool toward any federated settlement that includes the Kurds.
Turkish suspicions about Russia's motives were amplified last week after a Russian airstrike on Feb. 9 killed four Turkish soldiers and left others wounded on the outskirts of al-Bab.
In a flurry of phone calls to Ankara — including one from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — Moscow acknowledged that Russian jets had carried out the strike and offered words of regret.
