When the program of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s visit to Turkey became clear, we visited the Turkish-Russian Friendship House Culture and Art Museum located in the Ankara Castle together with the leader of the Crimean Tatar cause Ünver Sel. There are magnificent exhibition halls. The walls are covered with paintings and objects promoting Russian culture.
This historical place offers a unique opportunity for those who want to get to know Russian culture closely. Those who are on their way to Ankara Castle will be able to reach here when they turn to the first right street at the entrance of the Castle gate.
A section in the museum is dedicated to Russian music. Russian journalist Elana Palazhchenko takes care of this corner.
He is a fan of Piknik, a Russian rock band formed in Leningrad by Sergey Omelnichenko, Evgeny Voloschuk, Aleksey Dobychin and Edmund Shklyarskiy, whose line-up has changed many times since 1978. A corner with Russian musical instruments welcomes you here.
Putin is coming to challenge the globalists from Turkey!…
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will be in Turkey on February 12. Putin is expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues during his visit to Turkey. Putin’s official visit to one of NATO’s leading countries raises the importance of his meeting with Erdogan.
Why?
For example, this will be the first visit by a Russian leader to a NATO ally since the Kiev-Moscow war began in February 2022.
Another thing is that Russian President Putin has not traveled outside Russia for a long time. President Erdoğan is the only leader who can meet with the Russian president and the West. Putin, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court, only accepts invitations from the heads of countries he considers allies and friends.
However, since Ankara is not a party to the International Criminal Court, the arrest warrant against Putin is not binding on Turkey. In other words, Ankara is telling its interlocutors in Washington, London and Brussels that they can go to hell in a handbasket.
During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit, the two sides will discuss key issues of bilateral cooperation in the context of sanctions against the Russian Federation at a time when both Moscow and Washington are seeking rapprochement with Ankara.
Putin’s visit to Ankara after Iranian President Reisi’s visit and Erdoğan’s subsequent visit to Cairo at the invitation of Egyptian President Sisi are not isolated and independent diplomatic moves.
Ankara’s support for the Palestinian people in Gaza, despite bilateral trade and military agreements with Israel, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in Gaza at the end of the war is something that Moscow and Cairo also want.
“Erdogan plays an important leadership role in normalizing the situation in Gaza. He is certainly one of the leaders of the international community who pays the most attention to this tragedy and is doing everything to change the situation for the better,” Putin said weeks before, indicating the regional and global mission of Erdogan, the man who has articulated the “world is bigger than five” manifesto.
Russia-Turkey Trade volume is growing every year…
Ankara and Moscow are important trade and economic partners. In fact, despite sanctions, in November 2023, trade turnover between the two countries more than doubled by the end of 2022, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. However, companies and banks on both sides are struggling with sanctions and restrictions imposed by the global system.
The necessity of a Turkish-Russian banking system…
On December 22, 2023, US President Joe Biden’s decree authorizing the Department of Finance to impose simplified penalties on banks violating sanctions against Russia was published, giving the US Treasury the power to more broadly block the activities of foreign banks.
Since early January, Turkish banks have stopped accepting almost all transfers from Russian counterparties, despite the fact that since spring 2023, supplies of mainly non-sanctioned goods have been going directly to Russia via Turkey.
Following this regulation of the global financial system, the policy of national banks, particularly in Turkey, changed dramatically.
Despite reports, mainly in Russian media, that some financial institutions in Turkey are refusing to accept transfers from Russia, it is too early to say that Turkish banks have completely stopped cooperating with Russian banks due to sanctions.
Why?
First and foremost, Turkey is a country that has both registered and consolidated its independence with the War of Independence. It does not easily fall prey to dry noise. Based on the principle of peace at home and peace in the world, Turkey is one of the few countries that tries to find a compromise and fulfill the conditions of the sanctioning party while at the same time maintaining cooperation with the other side. The establishment of a Russian-Turkish bank with joint capital should be realized as soon as possible.
Central Bank gesture from Erdogan to Putin…
From this perspective, it can be said that Turkey has managed to remain a member of NATO and at the same time pursue a very independent foreign policy. Therefore, Putin’s meeting with Erdogan is likely to focus on finding a solution to this payment/financial problem between Turkey and Russia.
Some sources even say that Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan, who has lived in the US for many years and worked in senior positions at major US financial institutions, Goldman Sachs and First Republic, was dismissed for taking the United States Department of the Treasury’s sanctions recommendations against other countries’ national banks too seriously.
In fact, Russia and Turkey had already signed an agreement in 2019 to use local currencies, the ruble and the Turkish lira, for payments and agreements. The dismissal of the US-patented Hafize Gaye Erkan shows that Turkey will start a process in which it will not care much about sanctions and restrictions against Russia.
Because Turkey is the country most negatively affected by these sanctions. Turkey is banned, Germany or France is allowed.
Is there such a world?
Is Turkey the sucker of the world?
Germany’s exports to neighboring countries have increased many times over since Ankara imposed sanctions against Russia. It is obvious that these exports are to Russia. What about the Germans and not the Turks?
Turkey is the main distribution hub for Russian gas to Europe…
During Putin’s talks, all aspects of trade and economic partnership between the two countries will be discussed, including plans to build a gas hub. The project for a large gas hub in Turkey is progressing rapidly. It is almost complete.
The project, proposed by Russia in 2022, involves the supply of part of the gas from Russia to the center through additional lines of the Turkish Stream.
As you know, Russia had proposed a road map to Ankara for the realization of a center that could help partially compensate for the loss of exports to Europe.
Putin announced that the Russian Federation was ready to transfer the transit capacity of the lost gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, build new pipelines there and establish Europe’s largest gas hub in Turkey.
The Turkish side is preparing to discuss natural gas discounts with the Russians as part of the preparations for Putin’s visit.
Grain Corridor
The July 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative and the revival of the grain corridor implemented through separate memorandums of understanding signed by Turkey and the UN with Russia and Ukraine may come as a surprise. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that the defunct Black Sea Grain Initiative may return with new conditions.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that Putin and Erdoğan will definitely discuss this issue.
Especially the UK and European countries are looking forward to it. However, Ukraine is certain to be among the main topics of the meeting. Putin’s visit to Turkey, a NATO country that Washington will be watching closely, will take place at a critical threshold that the administration will be worried about Putin using to create new fractures in the alliance.
Turkey has close economic ties with Russia, especially in the areas of tourism, gas supplies, grain and other agricultural trade, which make Western countries nervous. But the two countries have a knife-edge relationship with the potential for conflict over conflicts in Syria and Libya, where they support opposing sides, as well as tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the South Caucasus.
The Russian leader’s visit is part of the regular dialog between the countries. Turkey continues to cooperate with Russia in many areas, especially energy. However, there are also problematic issues that each leader and the parties need to negotiate.
For example, in order to solve problems in Syria, the Caucasus and the Middle East and to avoid escalation, it is essential for both countries to constantly compare positions in healthy and sustainable relations.
Who knows, Erdoğan may turn Putin’s historic visit into an opportunity and bring Turkey’s inclusion in BRICS to the agenda. Otherwise they cannot break the iron circle of global capitalism.
Do Erdogan and Putin share a common opinion on the attacks on US military targets in Syria, Jordan and northern Iraq?
Selected Bibliography
https://regnum.ru/news/3865327
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6493440
https://istories.media/stories/2024/02/05/platezhi-iz-rossii/
https://www.trtrussian.com/novosti/v-kremle-povedali-chto-obsudit-putin-v-turcii-16874988
https://sputniknews.com.tr/20240129/kremlin-putinin-turkiyeye-ne-zaman-gelecegini-acikladi-1080160428.html
https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2024/02/06/update-1-kreml-putin-posetit-turtsiyu-obsudit-gazovyy-khab-a120734
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https://bcs-express.ru/novosti-i-analitika/mnenie-analitikov-gazovyi-vopros-obsudiat-vo-vremia-vizita-putina-v-turtsiiu-chto-eto-znachit-dlia-gazproma
