Turkey's balancing game between Russia and the U.S.

World
Europe

02:08

‍This month, Turkey-U.S. relations have entered a risky period. On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid an official visit to Moscow to strengthen ties with Russia and boost their cooperation in the field of defense industry.

However, Erdogan's move has brought an outcry from its NATO ally, the U.S., who warned that Turkey's plan on purchasing the Russian S-400 missile defense system would pose a great danger to the cohesion of the alliance (NATO).

Regardless of the U.S.' warning, Turkey's Foreign Minister responded that the S-400 deal is a "done deal."

Shortly after Erdogan's visit to Moscow, he announced that the delivery of the Russian missile defense system was scheduled for July, or might be earlier.

Speaking of Turkey-U.S. relations, Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian defense analyst, said Erdogan's visit to Russia was sending a signal to the U.S. that if the U.S. does not attach great importance to Turkey's interest, Turkey will take the side of Russia.

Serkan Oral, a political analyst and writer in Istanbul, emphasized that the U.S. politicians should provide more understanding in light of military cooperation between Turkey and Russia, instead of using the NATO alliance as an excuse to hinder military development in Turkey. Also, he pointed out that Turkey has always recognized and respected the strategic relationship between Turkey and the U.S.

"Turkey has been working with Russia, but (it) doesn't mean that Turkey's undermining the alliance," said Oral.

Regarding the intention behind Erdogan's meeting with Putin in Moscow, Cui Hongjian, director of the department for European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that Erdogan would take enhancing Turkey-Russia relations as a proof to his political achievement in response to his failure of Turkish local elections in 2019.

01:38

Other than the political purpose from Turkey's side, Cui mentioned that Putin would pay more attention to Russia's position and policy in the Middle East, especially when the Trump administration decided on the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Syria.

Rick Dunham, a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University, believed that Erdogan and Putin both took advantages of each other as political gains.

According to Dunham, Putin is interested in Russia's role in the Middle East, the Black Sea and arms sell. And he hoped to have Turkey lean more towards them. In terms of Erdogan, Dunham reckoned that Erdogan is in the middle between the United States and Russia and wants to show that he's an influential person.

01:06

"He (Erdogan) also has interest in Syria, particularly with the Kurds, and he wants to have discussions with Putin about the future of the Kurdish area and what Turkey's role may be," added Dunham.

He also indicated that the issue of Iran and Saudi Arabia would be the focus as both countries have interests in these areas.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)