World press on Turkish-Russian relations and Syrian crisis (July 16, 2013)

Hurriyet daily news has published an article by Barcin Yinanc devoted to the Turkish-Russian dispute over the Syrian conflict. "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during his May visit to Washington that he would be going to Russia to talk about Syria. We are in mid-July and a visit to Moscow does not loom in Erdoğan’s agenda. This might be because, after speaking on the phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he might have concluded that they are not on the same page and that the visit could turn to a cold shower," the article reads.

"According to diplomatic sources, Putin was very unyielding when Erdoğan complained about the intervention of “foreign forces,” criticizing the fact that Hezbollah is fighting next to Bashar al-Assad’s forces. It seems that Putin was not shy on giving the message that while Turkey is complaining about “intervention from outside,” it is also seen as a country that is turning a blind eye to foreign fighters and arms passing through its border to reach the opposition forces," the author writes.

"Inconsistency is not a must in the world’s real politic, but it is a luxury usually enjoyed by the big powers. When it comes to the inconsistencies of small and medium-sized powers; they can sometimes sell it, sometimes not. This time, it seems Putin did not buy it," she believes.