Lavrov heads to Turkey as Erdogan seeks 'new alliances'

World
Europe

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due in Turkey on Monday for two days of talks as the row between Ankara and Washington deepens.

Lavrov is scheduled to arrive hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would search for new alliances and trading partners as he continued to defy the United States over the release of a jailed American pastor – despite tensions with the US adding to pressure on the Turkish lira.

Erdogan warns of 'political plot' against Turkey

"Our response to the person who wages a trade war against the whole world, including our country, is to head towards new markets, new cooperation and new alliances,” Erdogan told supporters in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.

On Saturday, Erdogan wrote in the New York Times that Washington had to "come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives."

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

Bilateral economic and trading ties, as well as Syria and the wider Middle East, will be on the agenda when Lavrov meets with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The talks follow a phone conversation between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, during which the leaders told each other they were pleased with the positive direction in their economic and trade ties, a source in Erdogan's office told Reuters.

Both Russia and Turkey have indicated that they will look to increase trade in currencie s other than the US dollar in response to sanctions.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meet on the sidelines of the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Singapore, August 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Ankara also has growing investment ties with China. Xinhua reported in early August that Turkey, which is expected to play an active role at the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November, recently received a 3.6 billion US dollar loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to support its energy and transportation sector.

Pastor row strains ties

The Turkish lira slumped 17 percent against the US dollar on Friday alone, after President Donald Trump vowed to double steel and aluminum tariffs – measures due to come into force on Monday – on his NATO ally following the failure to strike a deal over the release of American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson.

Brunson, who was arrested over links to the attempted coup in 2016, is one of several Americans jailed in Turkey but his evangelical faith has made his case a cause célèbre for the US administration and Vice President Mike Pence.

US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talk at the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, July 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

The US also sanctioned two Turkish ministers last week over the dispute, and Ankara vowed retaliatory sanctions.

In a Daily Sabah article on Friday, Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin warned "the US runs the risk of losing Turkey as a whole" and added that the "credibility of the US as a reliable partner and ally" had been damaged.

Twitter Screenshot

On Sunday, Erdogan attacked the US over Brunson and for its support of Kurdish groups in Syria that Turkey regards as terrorists.

"We can only say ‘goodbye’ to anyone who sacrifices its strategic partnership and a half-century alliance with a country of 81 million for the sake of relations with terror groups,” the Turkish president said. “You dare to sacrifice 81-million Turkey for a priest who is linked to terror groups?"

Iran backs Turkey

Iran voiced its support for Turkey on Sunday, with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeting: "Trump's jubilation in inflicting economic hardship on its NATO ally Turkey is shameful. The US has to rehabilitate its addiction to sanctions & bullying or entire world will unite – beyond verbal condemnations – to force it to. We’ve stood with neighbors before, and will again now."

Twitter Screenshot

The Iranian rial has lost around half its value since Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in April. The first tranche of suspended US sanctions on Tehran were imposed last week, as other signatories continue to work to save the deal.

Erdogan on Sunday ruled out increasing interest rates to tackle the Turkish lira's fall and insisted he would not seek an international bailout, arguing that the 40 percent fall in the value of the currency this year did not reflect the realities of the country's economy.

"What is the reason for all this storm in a tea cup? There is no economic reason for this," he said. "This is called carrying out an operation against Turkey."

Finance Minister Berat Albayrak later said Turkey has drafted an economic action plan and will start implementing it on Monday.

6842km