Erdogan's letter to Putin only seems unexpected

The normalization of Russian-Turkish relations is not proceeding as fast as we would like. Russia has opened Turkey for its tourists, but with the proviso that the lifting of restrictions on charter flights does not mean that Moscow will encourage the flow of tourists. Ankara hinted that Russia may be allowed to use the Incirlik air base to fight Daesh, but shortly after that the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that he did not mean it. And finally, despite the fact that Turkey expects a full lifting of sanctions by Moscow, it will probably not happen soon, because there is still a lot of controversy between the two countries, particularly on Syria. However, the events of the past week and a half give hope for substantial progress in the restoration of contacts.

The normalization of relations did not begin suddenly, it was preceded by a lot of work on the part of Moscow and of Ankara. A member of the Russian Council on International Affairs, former Russian Ambassador to Turkey Peter Stegny, explained that "Erdogan's letter to Putin looks like an unexpected step, but from a professional point of view, such documents were preceded by serious work of a non-public nature. Contacts were held on the initiative of the Turkish side. They were held at the professional level and at the expert level. Major milestones of all the steps which followed Erdogan's letter have been discussed already at that stage."

This also refers to a telephone conversation between Putin and Erdogan, which was held in spite of the terrorist attack at the airport in Istanbul, and the arrangement of the meeting of the foreign ministers at the session of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, where the Turkish Foreign Minister was invited a long time ago.

According to the expert, in particular, it was due to pressure from the business community, the Turkish construction lobby, which has been effectively working in Russia for a long time. The break in relations has begun to impact on the interests of the participants of both the Turkish side and the Russian side adversely and in the long-term. It is about sad export prospects, the Turkish Stream project and work on the strategic project on construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

However, a crucial role was played by the negative trend of the situation in the Greater Middle East, especially in Syria. "The Kurdish question, painful for Turkey, is developing very peculiarly. Turkey has become the focus of a deep reformatting of the Greater Middle East. This was the invisible engine that triggered the process that we are seeing now. I am sure that it will be developing, perhaps with pauses, but start moving in the right direction, which is of strategic interest for our country," Stegny said.