Less than six months ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly complained that the Black Sea had become a Russian lake and sought regional and NATO cooperation against this threat. Russia and Turkey’s long-standing relationship was on the rocks, especially after Turkey had shot down a Russian fighter plane over Syria in November 2015. In its place, Ukraine and Turkey developed warmer ties and increased cooperation. But this new status quo began to change over the summer as Turkey sought to mend relations, and Putin spotted an opportunity to ingratiate himself after Turkey’s failed coup on July 15. Since then, …read more
Source: Atlantic Council
