Renewal of Moscow-Ankara Relations Following Erdogan-Putin Meeting in St. Petersburg

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday, August 9, for his first foreign trip following the failed coup in his country. Mr. Putin expressed happiness at meeting his Turkish counterpart and stated that Erdogan's visit to Russia signifies "the will to continue discussions." According to the Associated Press, Erdogan thanked Vladimir Putin twice during the meeting for inviting him and stated that "the entire region" would benefit from cooperation between Russia and Turkey. This marks Erdogan's first foreign trip after the unsuccessful coup attempt by a number of military personnel against his government. Erdogan has accused Western countries of supporting the coup, while many Western nations have taken a stand against it. The Turkish President's visit to Russia also comes shortly after he formally apologized to his Russian counterpart for the downing of a Russian military aircraft, seeking to revive bilateral relations. Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane in December 2015 while it was conducting operations against rebels opposing Bashar al-Assad. In response, Russia severed its ties with Turkey. Turkey is considered a key member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military and security alliance of major Western countries. However, following today's official meeting in St. Petersburg, the German Foreign Ministry, a NATO member, stated that the strengthening of Moscow-Ankara relations would not harm Turkey's role in the organization. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry said on Monday, "We do not believe that the establishment of friendly relations between Turkey and Russia will have negative consequences for security cooperation in NATO." On Tuesday, Turkey's Minister of Justice announced the official detention of 16,000 people following the coup in the country. Bekir Bozdağ stated that the detention of another 6,000 people is on the agenda, and 7,668 others are under investigation but have not yet been detained. Following the coup, the Turkish government has detained or dismissed thousands of individuals across various sectors, including military, security, judicial, administrative, and academic. The European Union has criticized the widespread crackdown on Erdogan's opponents in Turkey.