"If you wonder what the outcome of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Istanbul the other day was, I can sum it up for you: “Neither Bashar al-Assad, nor the Patriots; the only focus was the effort to upgrade the annual $35 billion trade volume between the two countries to $100 billion.” The talks, in that aspect, were very successful," the article by Mehmet Ali Birand published today by Hurriyet Daily News begins.
"I should say right now at the beginning that if there were a serious crisis because of Syria and the Patriots, Putin would not have visited Istanbul," Birand believes. "We generally underestimate Turkish-Russian relations, whereas the economic and political connections have reached such a level that even though there may be differing views between the two capitals, even though they criticize each other on certain subjects, no one would dare break this chain of interests. Russia would not give up Turkey, nor Turkey Russia. The topic of the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is particularly just peanuts when compared to this giant ball of interests."
"During this meeting, it was reported that a consensus had been reached about the future of al-Assad. Actually, not yet. The issue of Bashar al-Assad can be solved not in a Turkey-Russia talk but in Russia-U.S. talks. Let’s not ponder these matters. Come, let’s focus on trade; we’ll surely come out better off," the article reads.
