Turkey, Russia set aside Syria, focus on boosting business

Following Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Moscow in July, Putin's visit in December is expected to raise bilateral relations to a strategic level as this is the Russian president's first visit abroad after two months of postponing visits to other countries.

The main item on the agenda of the visit was expected to be the Syrian crisis, on which the two countries have different points of view, but experts as well as diplomats agree that the visit will focus on steps to be taken in concrete areas such as trade, economy, finance and energy, setting aside the topics that further strain relations.

“Great powers like Russia will always act according to their own interests. It has important expectations from Turkey in terms of economic and energy projects. Russia places great importance on Turkey as the visit will be paid on a presidential level,” Nüzhet Kandemir, Turkey's former ambassador to Washington and a prominent foreign policy commentator, told Today's Zaman.

Kandemir maintained that Putin's visit itself is an important indication of the willingness on the part of both countries to maintain their bilateral cooperation.

Experts also added that the two countries will not be able to find a common ground on the question of how to resolve the Syrian crisis; in other words, the two sides will agree to disagree on Syrian issue.

“Beside business issues, the Syrian crisis will also be discussed, but the sides will fail to reach a mutual understanding on the issue. I don't expect them to reach a conclusion on Syria as the main purpose of Putin's visit is to develop economic and energy projects with Turkey,” said Kandemir.

It is expected that emphasis will be placed on projects aimed at increasing the trade volume between Turkey and Russia from the current $30 billion expected by the end of this year to $100 billion.

Putin will visit Turkey for the third meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council established between Turkey and Russia. The Russian leader will be hosted in İstanbul, per Erdoğan's request that the meeting take place there. As part of his one-day visit to Turkey, Putin will also be meeting with President Abdullah Gül.

According to Russian Ambassador to Turkey Vladimir Ivanovskiy, several agreements in areas including the economy, culture and trade are to be concluded between the two countries during the visit.

“According to my accounts, six agreements are expected to be concluded, but this is not a definite number. Preparations are ongoing, and we hope that these agreements will be signed successfully,” said Ivanovskiy on Friday.

According to Ivanovskiy, bilateral, economic and cultural relations between Turkey and Russia will be discussed, adding that regional and international issues will also be on the agenda.

In addition, he added that the Russian ministers of energy, finance, transportation, culture and agriculture are expected to accompany Putin.

Both Erdoğan and Putin, who will also give a joint press conference, will meet with more than 70 businessmen and CEOs on Monday evening at a dinner given in honor of the purchase of Denizbank by the Russian Sberbank.

A senior Turkish diplomatic official, who spoke to Today's Zaman on condition of anonymity, stated that economic and energy issues would dominate Putin's meeting with Turkish officials. “This will be a one-day visit, and several agreements will be concluded. An agreement between the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and Denizbank is expected to be finalized. In addition, an agreement regarding the cooperation of the diplomacy academies of both foreign ministries will be signed,” said the official, adding that prior to Putin's visit to Turkey, the foreign ministers of both countries will meet in İstanbul to discuss the Syrian crisis.

The same official also underlined that Turkey would reiterate its expectations from Russia regarding the Syrian crisis. “Our expectation is that Russia should use its weight in the UN to stop the bloodshed in Syria. Russia is also aware that some steps should be taken in the crisis and does not insist on President Bashar al-Assad staying in power,” said the official.

Despite their close political ties over the past decade, Russia and Turkey are on opposing sides with regards to the crisis in Syria, where Assad faces an uprising against his rule.

Ivanovskiy stated that the opposing stances of the two countries regarding the Syrian crisis are not an issue that would affect bilateral relations, adding that Putin as well as Erdoğan have previously made statements to this effect.

“In principle, Turkey and Russia do not have different standpoints in the Syrian crisis but they have different methods of approach regarding a solution to the issue. Syrians should find a solution by reaching an agreement amongst themselves,” said Ivanovskiy, underlining that there should not be any foreign intervention.

Russia and Turkey share the same opinions when it comes to finding non-military solutions to the crisis unfolding in Syria. The only real problem on this front is in connection with Assad. While Ankara envisions a Syria without Assad, Moscow insists that the Syrians must decide this for themselves.

Meanwhile, on Sunday the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der) called for a protest against Putin's visit on Monday at İstanbul's Taksim Square, saying “it is no surprise that Russia, which has killed many Muslims in the Caucasus, stands side by side by the criminal Assad regime.”

Hasan Selim Özertem, an expert on Russia from the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), told Today's Zaman that Russia's stance in the Syrian crisis is firm and unchangeable, adding that Turkey will convey important messages to the Russians during Putin's visit. “But I believe that the visit will focus on economic issues rather than Syria. If Turkey puts Syria as the main topic of the agenda, then bilateral relations will not be discussed as expected,” said Özertem.

Touching upon NATO member Turkey's request from the alliance to deploy its sophisticated anti-missile Patriot defense system along the Turkish-Syrian border, Özertem stated that the Patriot system issue would certainly be on the agenda of Putin's visit.

Russia opposes any deployment of the Patriot system by NATO near Turkey's border with Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said recently.

Although Turkey and Russia have made enormous progress in bilateral relations in the last few years, the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) still remains an issue between the two states as Russia has yet to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization.