Experts expect Putin's meeting with Erdogan to be landmark in nature

Today the first meeting of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a long break will be held in St. Petersburg. The experts Alexander Gusev and Aydin Sezer, shared with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, what they expect from the upcoming meeting.

The partnership with Russia and its leader are very important for Erdogan, the head of the Center for Strategic Development of the CIS Countries under the RAS Institute of Europe, Alexander Gusev, said.

"The Turkish president is in a very difficult situation. There is a chill in relations with the United States, relations with Europe are also quite complex due to the migration crisis. 

Meanwhile, Russia is a strong partner and Putin is a strong partner as well," the expert said.

He pointed out that some time ago, the former Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu, has claimed responsibility for the downed Russian fighter. "This whitewashes Erdogan to some extent, and will facilitate his negotiations with Putin," the head of the Center for Strategic Development believes.

It is expected that the heads of state will discuss the resumption of the Turkish stream project, Gusev reminded. "Of course, it will be revived, all the parties are interested in it, including the Europeans. Europe is interested, because it will bring good profits; for Russia it is important to increase the supply of natural gas. For Ankara the project is significant because Turkey will become a transit country. For the countries of Southern Europe it will mean natural gas supplies, without which they cannot survive," the expert explained.

He suggested that the construction business would be another topic for discussion. "Right now, 90 thousand people are working on those sites, construction of which have begun before the cooling of the relations between Russia and Turkey; and the construction of some facilities, such as stadiums, will take time," the head of the Center for Strategic Development said.

"And of course, the agenda will include tourism and agricultural issues," Gusev stressed.

"I think that the Russian side will help to ensure the internal security of the republic, because it is fundamentally important to both Russia and Turkey," the expert recalled.

"Most likely, the Russian-Turkish relations will gradually reach the level they were at in September last year," Alexander Gusev concluded.

The head of the Center for Turkish-Russian Researches, Aydin Sezer, in turn, said that the cold spell [in relations] between Turkey and Europe would give impetus to its rapprochement with Russia. "The problems in relations between Turkey and the West are very complex, which became apparent just after the coup attempt. There are differences with the US and the EU on a number of issues. The extradition of Fethullah Gulen, fundamental problems on visa issues, migration and the refugee crisis," he said.

"In general, the differences between Turkey and Europe resemble the problems in relations between Russia and the West: the West and the US impose sanctions using the Ukrainian crisis as, put pressure on Russia in the Syrian issue. That is why the rapprochement between Turkey and Russia is inevitable in foreign policy. Therefore, I think the meeting between Putin and Erdogan will be remarkable," the expert stressed.

"That is, they have the same task - to resist the pressure from the West, which will result in a fruitful cooperation," Sezer noted.

The expert recalled that recently there was a number of negative publications in European media about the Turkish Stream. "That is, healthy bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey worry both Europe and the United States," he added.

The head of the Center for Turkish-Russian Researches has suggested that after today's meeting of the two leaders, it is possible to reach an agreement on the Syrian issue, where there are contradictions between Russia and Turkey. "Turkey is at a disadvantage on the Syrian issue, but it can achieve a lot in collaboration with Russia," the expert said.

"I wrote a book about coups in Turkey, and I noticed one interesting detail in this study. All the coups that took place in Turkey, have been carried out during a rapprochement with Russia," Aydin Sezer concluded.