'Putin's visit to Turkey may affect fate of Middle East'

Gumer Isayev, the head of the St. Petersburg Center for Modern Middle East Studies, told Today's Zaman that the new ideas discussed between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Putin regarding the Syrian crisis may affect the fate of the Middle East, adding that he considers Putin's visit successful as both states did not allow the Syrian crisis to influence bilateral relations.

“We must keep in mind that the Syrian issue is just as important to Russia as it is for Turkey. But both countries do not want to risk their growing relations due to this crisis. Putin's visit to Turkey is very significant for the region because the joint decisions concluded during the visit may greatly affect the fate of the region,” said Isayev.

Despite their close political ties over the past decade, Russia, one of Syria's few remaining allies, and Turkey are on opposing sides with regard to the crisis in Syria, where embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faces an uprising against his rule.

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.

Experts agree that Turkey and Russia have aired their differences on Syria but decided to set them aside during Putin's visit to protect their robust business and energy ties.

Isayev added that relations between Russia and Turkey have improved in the fields of economy, culture and tourism, which made the two countries more dependent on each other, adding that Putin's visit had special significance in this respect.

At a joint press conference with Putin in İstanbul on Monday, Erdoğan spoke at length about Turkish-Russian economic cooperation before praising Russia's policies on the Palestinian conflict.

Erdoğan said the foreign ministers of the two countries -- who had separate talks earlier in the day -- will work together “more intensively” over Syria.

A senior Turkish diplomatic official who spoke to Today's Zaman on the condition of anonymity provided further details regarding the meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday prior to the third meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council established between Turkey and Russia.

“Both ministers discussed several issues, including the approval of Palestine's bid to upgrade its status from an observer to a UN non-member state, the current tensions in Egypt, the situation in the Caucasus, particularly the new government in Georgia, the economic and political strategies of both states in Asia and Eurasia and, most importantly, the Syrian crisis,” said the official.

Touching on NATO member Turkey's request from the alliance to deploy its sophisticated anti-missile Patriot defense system along the Turkish-Syrian border, the official also added that the Patriots issue was not particularly discussed during the meeting.

Russia is opposed to the planned deployment of the Patriot system by NATO near Turkey's border with Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said recently.

“But the Turkish side emphasized its concerns regarding the Syrian crisis and the risks it poses to Turkey's security,” said the official.

Speaking at the joint conference with Erdoğan, Putin said he understood Turkey's concerns about its border security after Syrian shells hit Turkish territory in recent months.

In an apparent reference to the Turkish request for the deployment of the missiles, Putin said it was normal for any country to take measures in response to violations of its borders but warned that such a deployment could escalate fears of a wider conflict.

“We share Turkey's concern about the developments on the border,” said Putin. “But we are calling for restraint because increasing [military] potential will not settle the situation but create the opposite effect.”

Putin said both Russia and Turkey share the same goals for the future of Syria but differ on methods on how to reach these goals.

“The positions of the Russian Federation and Turkey completely correspond regarding what has to be attained [in Syria], but as of yet no shared approach regarding methods of how to attain it has been reached,” Putin said.

According to the same official, Erdoğan and Putin were able to find a common ground on Syria but were not able to agree on the question of how to resolve the Syrian crisis. “Both sides want the bloodshed to stop in Syria. The joint press conference was a sign that showed the softening of the relations between the two countries,” said the official.

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Vladimir Ivanovski told reporters last Friday that in principle, Turkey and Russia do not have different standpoints in the Syrian crisis but different methods of approach regarding a solution to the issue.

In Turkey, the visiting Russian president reiterated that Russia is not an advocate of the Syrian government but that it will not accept a repeat of NATO's bombing of Libya.