Russia and Turkey - annulment of Erdogan's political divorce

        Winking Putin  |  An abashed Erdogan  |  Istanbul Grand Bazar


On June 29 Kremlin announced that it was normalizing trade ties with Turkey followed by a statement from Putin that Turkey apologized for shooting the Russian warplane and killing its pilot.  But Turkey says it only regretted, no apology.

Soon after the incident in November 2016, Kremlin wasted no time imposing sanctions on Turkey banning imports of fruits, vegetables and poultry, suspending  construction projects and an embargo on Russian tourism in Turkey.  Initially Turkey bragged that it didn't care.  But as time went by, it began melting like snowflake.  Turkish government has lost $3.5 billion from the absence of Russian tourists (an average of 4 million  visited Turkey annually), $5 billion from suspension of construction projects and $765 million from Russian sanctions on Turkish agricultural products.  Export of clothing industries in Istanbul fell by more than 60% as 80% of their clients were Russians.  At present, Erdogan is feeling the heat - big time! - despite the comfort of his 1100-room Alcázar.   For sure, the paper-tiger pasha did whisper an apology for the annulment of his 'divorce.' And then guess what?   Barely three days later, ISIS reacted attacking Ataturk Airport, killing 43 Turks and wounding 243.    

So much of the pasha's affection and arrogance wasted.  He made Turkey a safe haven for ISIS and nurtured those criminals like sons for the sake of robbing Syria's oil, industrial machinery and other valuables .. ultimately at the cost of the Turkish people.  He excitedly flexed muscles to intimidate the Russians in Syria but eventually had to fall on his knees to allow the flow of Russian money into Turkey again.  An epitome of a non-visionary leader!