The St. Petersburg summit of Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Aug. 9 goes a long way towards repairing a major potential fault line on NATO’s eastern border.<\/p>\n
The diplomatic rapprochement between Russia and Turkey after nine months of antagonism must be a welcome development in the ever more volatile times we live in.<\/p>\n
It has been claimed that Turkey\u2019s improved relations with Russia pointed to an Ankara-Moscow pivot, thus raising alarms in Western capitals.<\/p>\n
I do not see it. There may be some unease, a bit of confusion or even slight amusement, but no cause for alarm.<\/p>\n
When Turkish-Russian relations hit a low point last November after the Turkish jets shot down a Russian plane for violating Turkey\u2019s airspace, there was a real worry that the NATO had faced being thrust into a new Middle Eastern crisis.<\/p>\n
Turkey’s decision to down the Russian jet was seen as rash; Ankara was warned against a serious escalation that might drag NATO in a dangerous confrontation with Russia.<\/p>\n
Diplomacy to resolve the risk of an escalation was encouraged and this is what has happened.<\/p>\n
If you look at some of the\u00a0comments<\/a>\u00a0of the Turkish media, Mr Erdogan\u2019s visit to St. Petersburg came at a time when EU membership has ceased to be a goal for Turkey; the USA, Turkey’s key NATO ally, has\u00a0 been portrayed as enemy number one. \u201cThey were besieging Turkey, step-by-step\u201d, according to one pro-Erdogan columnist at the Yeni Safak daily; it was time for Turkey to turn its face the other way. Abdurrahman Dilipak, writing at the right-wing Islamist Yeni Akit went even further. He\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0for Turkey to leave the United Nations as well.<\/p>\n Upon his return from Russia, President Erdogan himself issued the US with an\u00a0ultimatum<\/a>. \u201cChoose between Turkey and FETO\u201d he said, referring to US based preacher Fethullah Gulen and his followers in Turkey.<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s top diplomat, the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, has also openly\u00a0accused<\/a>\u00a0Turkey\u2019s allies of encouraging\u00a0 the coup attempt.<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s shortcomings in employing a measured language of allied diplomacy in recent weeks may be partly responsible for the sloppy headlines in the western media.<\/p>\n The British tabloid The Daily Express\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0Turkey was threatening to leave NATO;\u00a0The Daily Mail<\/a>\u00a0also read the Turkish foreign minister\u2019s statement as a warning to the alliance that Turkey was ready to turn its back to its allies.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is not known for his diplomatic precision and clarity. The anti-Americanism and the anti-EU sentiments that have reached unprecedented levels after the 15 July coup attempt, are clear for all to see. So, for the foreign media to interpret the Foreign Minister\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0comments<\/a>\u00a0as Turkey\u2019s intention to exit NATO was slapdash, but not altogether surprising.<\/p>\n