Putin’s historic visit to Turkey comes rivals forge closer ties

AP Worldstream
Dec 03, 2004

SUZAN FRASER

ANKARA, Turkey _ Historic rivals Turkey and Russia have spent
centuries vying for influence in central Asia, the Balkans and the
Caucasus. Most recently, they bickered over routes to carry energy
resources to world markets and accused each other of supporting the
other’s militant groups.

But underneath the antagonism, the two have quietly woven a web of
economic ties _ and are eyeing even closer cooperation.

The process will receive an official consecration on Sunday, when
Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to Ankara in a visit rich in
symbolism: Putin will be the first Russian leader ever to pay an
official visit Turkey.

Putin is to meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and oversee the signing of six
cooperation agreements, including in defense, finance and energy.

The two-day visit, said Sezer spokesman Sermet Atacanli on Friday,
“will bea new boost for Turkish-Russian relations.”

Turkey and Russia have been rivals for centuries.

At their height, the Ottoman empire and Czarist Russia were great
eastern powers locked in a struggle for regional supremacy. Friction
between the two nations precipitated the Crimean War and they were on
opposite sides duringWorld War I. More recently, Turkey was NATO’s
easternmost front during the Cold War.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Turkey and Russia competed for
control in Central Asia and the Caucasus where Turkic states gained
independence. Economically more powerful, Russia has in recent years
maintained its dominance in the region.

But since the end of the Cold War, Turkey and Russia have also been
concentrating on trade. Today, Russia is Turkey’s second largest
trading partner, after Germany. While Turkey is a major consumer of
Russian natural gas, Turkey’s Mediterranean coast is a favorite
destination for Russian tourists.

“It is no longer rivalries, but cooperation which dominates
relations,” said Sinan Ogan, a researcher and expert on Russia.

Putin’s trip, originally scheduled for September, was postponed after
the Beslan school tragedy in which more than 330 people _ mostly
children _ were killed in a siege by Chechen rebels.

The Chechnya conflict is expected to feature high on the agenda during
Putin’s two-day visit. Many Turks trace their ancestry to Chechnya and
other parts of the Caucausus and Turks sympathize with their fellow
Muslims in the war-ravaged Russian region.

Russia has called on Turkey to crack down on Turkish charities that it
claims channel funds and weapons to Chechen rebels. Earlier this
month, Russian officials said their forces in Chechnya killed two
Turkish militants who were fighting alongside Chechen separatists.

On Friday, Turkish authorities apprehended 10 suspected Chechen
militants and two pro-Chechen Turks, in an apparent gesture to Putin.

“Russia’s greatest concern is the support from certain Chechen civil
organizations inside Turkey, to Chechen terrorist movements,” said
Seyfi Tashan, director of the Ankara-based Foreign Policy Institute.

Turkey has in the past accused Russia of supporting Kurdish rebels
that have since 1984 waged a war for autonomy in Turkey’s
southeast. The war has killed some 37,000 people.

Putin and Erdogan are also expected to discuss contentious issues such
as the Caucasus, where Turkey is allied with Azerbaijan and Russia is
friendly with its rival, Armenia.

Bilateral trade is expected to exceed the targeted US$10 billion
(Aâ=82¬7.5 billion) this year_ an amount Turkish officials say no one
would have dreamed of 10 years ago. Turkey’s Trade Minister Kursad
Tuzmen said trade volume would reach $15 billion (Aâ=82¬11 billion) in
the coming years.

A 446-kilometer (278-mile) pipeline which carries the Russian gas
beneath the Black Sea is operational since 2002. Turkish companies are
active in Russia in retail, construction and brewing, and investment
to date totals US$2 billion (Aâ=82¬1.5 billion).

Turkey and Russia “are moving toward cooperation and
welfare… Russian and Turkey are neighbors. We have common
interests,” Putin said in an interview with CNN-Turk television in
September.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress