Russia offers Erdogan economic lifeline
Gas payments in rubles will help Turkey reduce its foreign-currency demand.
![Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran on July 19, 2022.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2022-08/GettyImages-1241996761.jpeg?h=d7ed24f8&itok=f1WPUJGE)
The economic outcomes of the recent Turkish-Russian summit and a string of financial moves by the Russian builder of a nuclear power plant in Turkey have come as fresh signs that Turkey is becoming a safe harbor for sanctions-hit Russian capital. For some observers, the moves amount also to a financial lifeline for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he grapples with economic turmoil ahead of crucial elections next year.
Money transfers by Rosatom, the state-owned Russian company building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu; a deal allowing Turkey to pay in rubles for some of its Russian gas imports; and moves to expand the use of the Russian Mir payment system in Turkey are all seen as the pieces of an integrated effort between Ankara and Moscow.