As mentioned in yesterday's post:
The meeting took place today and the newest reports are below:France24: Erdogan & Putin Met At MAKS Airshow
After meeting for talks near Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they hoped to work together to ease tensions in Idlib province.
"The situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone is of serious concern to us and our Turkish partners," Putin said at a joint press conference with Erdogan.He sympathised with Turkey, saying: "We understand Turkey's concern regarding the security of its southern border. We believe that these are legitimate interests."
Putin said the two leaders had agreed "additional joint steps" to "normalise" the situation in Idlib, including measures aimed at rooting out "terrorists" there.
Paragraph below from Reuters UK
“Together with Turkey’s president we have outlined additional joint steps to neutralise the terrorists’ nests in Idlib and normalise the situation there and in the whole of Syria as a result,” Putin told a joint briefing with Erdogan.
France 24: "The situation (in Idlib) has become so complicated that at this moment our troops are in danger," Erdogan said.
"We do not want this to continue. All necessary steps will be taken here as needed."
Putin, speaking after talks with Erdogan, also said he and the Turkish leader had emphasised that Syria should remain a unified country.
Erdogan and Putin hold frequent talks and — despite the differences over Syria — have forged close ties focused on energy and defense cooperation.
In July, Turkey began taking delivery of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, a move that strained ties with Ankara's NATO ally the United States.
As the two leaders were meeting in Moscow, deliveries of the second battery of the S-400 system began.
Kurdish Media comes out with an extremely timely report below:The Turkish Threat To NATO?
"While it is quite reasonable to acknowledge Turkey’s security concerns, playing both sides of the fence and buying Russian weapons is tantamount to aiding Russia which has been a clear adversary to the US and the NATO alliance since the Cold War. According to Senior Fellow Fedriga Bindi at the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, Erdogan “has essentially been given the all-clear to do what he wants, and this is not only damaging NATO, but also the whole Western community—and its values system.” In other words, while not the only one, Turkey’s actions under Erdogan threatens the strategic interests of NATO in the Middle East as well as the democratic values and principles that underlie it as an institution."
To my mind it is NATO that damaged their alliance with Turkey. The began this long ago.And now through their proxies feign injury.
Some argue Turkey has a right to seek military technology outside of NATO if it feels it has not been provided with enough support to address its security concerns, and this may be valid to an extent. Nonetheless, purchasing weapons from Russia opens the door for other NATO members to start to exploit the rivalry between Russia and NATO for their national benefit. (Other nations working for their own national benefit? Why I'm aghast at this idea. OH my.) This will allow Russia to significantly weaken or divide the NATO alliance and advance its interests in the Middle East and Eastern Europe at the cost of NATO and the US. Furthermore, being a NATO member and enjoying all the benefits of membership comes with responsibilities and commitments that cannot be ignored whenever it is convenient for Turkey.
The purchase of the Russian missile defense system and other dealings with Moscow is yet another example of the dangerous anti-western direction that Erdogan has taken his country since becoming president a decade ago. Unless something is done to significantly deter or make Erdogan rethink this new-Ottoman foreign and domestic policy where he rules like an Ottoman Sultan, (blah, blah, blah) Turkey could continue on this path with serious consequences for itself and the NATO alliance.
NATO should, therefore, punish Turkey......
It seems to me NATO has been "punishing" Turkey for quite some time already. Related: