Erdogan realized that through his authoritarian, self-righteous, and frequently erratic ways he managed to create too many enemies for his own country all over the world.
Vladimir Golstein
…by Jonas E. Alexis & Vladimir Golstein
Vladimir Golstein holds his M.S. in Computers from Moscow Institute of Management, his B.A. in Philosophy from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from Yale University. His scholarly interests embrace Russian culture, religion, philosophy, and poetry of the past two centuries, as well as the current foreign policy issues. He is currently Professor of Slavic Studies at Brown University.
Golstein is putting together two scholarly monographs: one on the conflict of generations in Russia and another on the use of musical communication in a literary text. His recent study is Lermontov’s Narratives of Heroism(Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2012). He is well-known in the scholarly world.[1] His articles have been featured on Forbes,The Nation, Kyiv Post, Al Jazeera, and other news outlets.[2]
Alexis: Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally conceded defeat. Russian-style defeat. As we reported over a week ago, Russia had effectively shut down Turkey’s economic infrastructure,[3]a strategic move that sent shockwaves across the country. Turkey’s tourism industry complained that this was “the worst season in 30 years.”[4]Sputnik has reported:
“Turkey’s once-thriving marketplaces have been left resembling ghost towns, with the tourism crisis riding roughshod over not only seaside resorts, but also Istanbul; this former Mecca of tourism was the worst affected by the aftermath of the bomb blasts.
“Even though the decline in revenues in Turkey’s tourist sector will ebb by about a quarter by the year-end, local hotels and restaurants, including those in Istanbul, remain empty.”[5]
Moscow waited for an apology from Erdogan for bringing down a Russian jet in Syria for over six months, and Erdogan has finally put his hands in the air and admitted his political missteps. He has already asked for forgiveness and begged for mercy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said:
“President Putin has received a letter from Turkish President Erdogan where the Turkish leader expresses interest in resolving the situation around the downing of a Russian bomber jet.”[6] It is reported:
“Erdogan said that Turkey ‘shares the pain of the downed Su-24 pilot’s death with his family’ and ‘sees it as Turkey’s pain…’ Turkey is ready to take all steps required to ‘relieve the pain and severity of damage’ to the deceased Su-24 pilot’s family, Erdogan writes in his letter to the Russian President.”[7]
Erdogan also said: “We never intended to shoot down the aircraft of the Russdian Federation.”[8]In the same letter, Erdogan called Russia “a friend and a strategic partner.”[9]
Can friends stab each other and still be strategic partners? In any event, we obviously know that Erdogan is desperate to restore Turkey’s tourism industry. So, it could easily be argued that the letter is somewhat insincere.
But the fact is that Erdogan took the time to write it and send it to Moscow, and that itself is pregnant with meaning. Erdogan—like the Obama administration,[10] which has been pushed by NATO to promote covert operations on Russian borders[11]—has finally woken up from his fantasy and realized that Russia is a political and military powerhouse, one that cannot be easily dismissed by threat, political maneuvering, and ideological mumbo jumbo.
It seems that NATO and NWO agents were expecting Russia to do something really stupid. That would have given NATO and NWO agents enough excuses to build a diabolical case against Russia. But Russia took a more strategic route, one that progressively became more effective than anything else and one that obviously stunned warmongers. Russia cut Turkey’s economic supplies and made Erdogan look like Wile E. Coyote.
Putin has done well when he welcomed Turkey’s apology, and one must say that he probably did the right when he ordered Russia to start lifting the sanctions.[12] After all, peaceful resolutions should always be preferable over heated and protracted conflicts.
But Russia should keep an eye on Turkey, and Putin should also set up logical rules for continued dialogue, since Turkey is still part of NATO, which is hostile to Russia. Russia should also ask Erdogan to stop assisting ISIS and other terrorist groups that are targeting the Syrian government. And if Turkey fails to compensate for downing the Russian jet,[13]then no dialogue is needed and the letter was just a smokescreen.
Moreover, Erdogan should help Russia end the Syrian war by challenging the powers that be to stop supporting the so-called Syrian rebels and to ask Israel to stop dictating who needs to go and who needs to stay in the Middle East.[14]As we have seen earlier, the Israeli regime even prefers ISIS over the Syrian government.[15]That is one reason why ISIS has never attacked Israel. That’s one reason why the Israelis have been rescuing ISIS members in the region.[16]That was one reason why Israel was “in regular contact with Syrian rebels, including Islamic State (ISIS) militants.”[17]
But things are changing. If Erdogan is sincere about working with Putin, then the United States and even NATO will have a tough time perpetuating their lies and fabrications. The Erdogan apology also puts another nail in the New World Order coffin, despite the fact that news outlets such as the Daily Beast, theWashington Post, and Newsweek continue to attack Putin and Russia on a totally incoherent plane.[18] Vladimir Golstein, what is your assessment on some of these issues? Should Putin restore peaceful resolutions with Erdogan?
Golstein: Erdogan realized that through his authoritarian, self-righteous, and frequently erratic ways he managed to create too many enemies for his own country all over the world. On some level, he can be seen as the emblem of the United States: his economic successes have given him the aura of invincibility, so he began to be convinced that he can ride the wave of all possible confrontations and contradictions, hoping to succeed by challenging both his immediate neighbors (like Syria or Russia) as well as the distant countries, be it Germany or even the US for their support of the Syrian Kurds.
Clearly, Erdogan’s position is very complex, as he is trying to re-establish Turkey as a major economic and political power and power-broker in the region, while trying at the same time to accommodate various religious or political demands (such as his alliance with Saudis and various militant religious groups whom they sponsor, his obligations to NATO or his fear of Kurds and their separatist threat).
By trying to achieve so many goals, he was bound to appear erratic at times. It is hard to establish one’s mastery while at the same time serving other masters. The whole direction of his policy clearly backfired when his military managed to shoot down the Russian plane. First, he hoped to gain some support for his aggressive action from NATO, but his relations with NATO had soured as well when his refugee policy or his threats to such pillars of western society as freedom of speech, ostracized western powers as well.
So it eventually occurred to Erdogan that his relationship with the Saudis pushed him away from Iran, that his relationship with the US pushed him away from Russia and Iran, and so on, so he made a pragmatic decision to re-establish severed diplomatic and economic ties with various key players in the region, including Russia.
I am sure that Russia has its own economic and strategic interests in the area (ranging from the building gas pipe that would enable Russians to circumvent Ukraine, to peace in Syria and stability in various regions, such as Crimea or Azerbaijan) and it is clear that they are hoping that Erdogan would deliver at all these fronts, while seizing stirring trouble among Crimean Tartars, or Azeris in Nagorno-Karabach area.
Apparently, he also has been involved in negotiations with the Syrian government and is willing to stop his support of various militants, who challenge the Syrian regime. I hope he will stick to his pragmatic decision, and would not allow US/NATO/Saudis axis to sabotage these necessary steps for achieving peace and prosperity in the region.
Yet, there is no indication that this axis is ready to leave Erdogan off the hook, as the recent terrorist attack at the Istanbul airport revealed. But I am sure that Russia knows it, and would never fully trust Erdogan again. So every agreement they would have with Erdogan would be worked out carefully, with the possibilities of sanctions, penalties and so on included in the agreement.
But it is clear that Russia can utilize its relations with Erdogan to its benefits: be it tourism, or economic cooperation, or regional stability, or showing the West that its sanctions are ineffective, and that Russia can have as many new partners and allies as it wants.
[1] See Andrew Kahn, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Pushkin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 87; Robin Feuer Miller,The Brothers Karamazov: Worlds of the Novel(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008), xvi; Ilia Dorontchenkov, ed., Russian and Soviet Views of Modern Western Art, 1890s to Mid-1930s (Berkley: University of California Press, ), xiv; Irina Paert, Spiritual Elders: Charisma and Tradition in Russian Orthodoxy (Dekalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2010), 248; Olga Tabachnikova, Anton Chekhov Through the Eyes of Russian Thinkers: Vasilii Rozanov, Dmitrii Merezhkovskii and Lev Shestov (New York and London: Anthem Press, 2012), chapter 8.
[2] Vladimir Golstein, “Why Everything You’ve Read About Ukraine Is Wrong,” Forbes, May 19, 2014; “Western Media Coverage of the Ukraine Crisis Is as Distorted as Soviet Propaganda,”The Nation, May 22, 2014; “Why do they hate Russia?,” Al Jazeera, March 8, 2014.
[3] Leonid Bershidsky, “Here’s Why Erdogan Is Burying the Hatchet With Putin,” Bloomberg, June 27, 2016.
[4] “Summertime Sadness: Turkey’s Tourism Crisis Shows No Sign of Abating,” Sputnik News, June 27, 2016.
[5] Ibid.
[6] “Erdogan Sends Condolences to Putin Over Death of Russian Su-24 Pilot,” Sputnik News, June 27, 2016.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] “Erdogan apologizes to Putin over death of Russian pilot, calls Russia ‘friend & strategic partner,’” Russia Today, June 27, 2016.
[10] For a recent development, see Josh Rogin, “Obama proposes new military partnership with Russia in Syria,” Washington Post, June 30, 2016.
[11] Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani, “Hacked Emails Reveal NATO General Plotting Against Obama on Russia Policy,” The Intercept, July 1, 2016.
[12] “Putin Instructs Gov’t to Start Talks With Turkey on Restoring Ties,” Sputnik News, June 29, 2016; “Putin-Erdogan 40-Minute Talks ‘Productive, Positive’ – Turkish Sources,” Sputnik News, June 29, 2016.
[13] “Russia Expects Compensation for Downed Su-24 to Restore Ties With Turkey,” Sputnik, June 30, 2012.
[14] “’Israel wanted Assad gone since start of Syria civil war,’” Jerusalem Post, September 17, 2013.
[15] Adam Taylor, “Israeli defense minister: If I had to choose between Iran and ISIS, I’d choose ISIS,” Washington Post, January 19, 2016; “‘I prefer ISIS’: Iran’s terror infrastructure is greater threat to Israel – defense minister,”Russia Today, January 20, 2016.
[16] Jake Wallis Simons, “Saving their sworn enemy: Heartstopping footage shows Israeli commandos rescuing wounded men from Syrian warzone – but WHY are they risking their lives for Islamic militants?,” Daily Mail, December 8, 2015.
[17] “UN Report: Israel in Regular Contact with Syrian Rebels including ISIS,” International Business Times, December 7, 2014; see also Christa Case Bryant, “UN reports Israeli support for Syria rebels,” Christian Science Monitor, December 7, 2014; Itamar Sharon, “IDF medics seen treating Syrian rebels in new video,” Times of Israel, December 18, 2014; Maya Shwayder, “New UN report reveals collaboration between Israel and Syrian rebels,” Jerusalem Post, December 7, 2014.
[18] For a recent attack, see Anna Nemtsova, “Putin’s New Rival: Stalin,” Daily Beast, June 27, 2016; Josh Rogin, “Russia is harassing U.S. diplomats all over Europe,” Washington Post, June 27, 2016; Frederic C. Hof, “Putin Will Pay a High Price for Backing Assad’s Murders,”Newsweek, June 13, 2016.
Conspiracy Daily Update 
What’s Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled
upon this I have found It positively useful and it has aided me out loads.
I’m hoping to contribute & assist different customers like its aided me.
Great job.
LikeLike
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video
to make your point. You definitely know what youre talking about,
why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your
site when you could be giving us something informative to
read?
LikeLike
Hello, There’s no doubt that your blog could be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however, when opening in Internet Explorer,
it’s got some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to provide
you with a quick heads up! Besides that, excellent
blog!
LikeLike
That is a great tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere.
Simple but very accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one.
A must read article!
LikeLike
Quality posts is the key to invite the people to visit the web site, that’s what this site is providing.
LikeLike
Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Finding
the time and actual effort to make a superb article… but
what can I say… I hesitate a lot and never manage to get nearly anything done.
LikeLike
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your content seem to be running off the screen in Chrome.
I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser
compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know.
The style and design look great though! Hope you
get the issue fixed soon. Many thanks
LikeLike
Hurrah, that’s what I was seeking for, what a material!
existing here at this blog, thanks admin of this website.
LikeLike
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon everyday.
It’s always helpful to read articles from other authors and practice a little something from other sites.
LikeLike
Pretty! This was an extremely wonderful post. Thank you
for supplying these details.
LikeLike
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I have read stuff from.
Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just
bookmark this site.
LikeLike
Your method of explaining everything in this paragraph is truly fastidious, all be capable of simply know it, Thanks
a lot.
LikeLike
Helpful info. Fortunate me I found your website by chance, and
I am surprised why this coincidence did not came about in advance!
I bookmarked it.
LikeLike
Everything is very open with a precise explanation of the challenges.
It was truly informative. Your site is very helpful.
Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
I am curious to find out what blog system you happen to be using?
I’m experiencing some minor security issues with my latest website and I’d like to find something more secure.
Do you have any recommendations?
LikeLike
Wonderful site. Lots of helpful info here.
I’m sending it to several buddies ans also sharing in delicious.
And certainly, thank you in your sweat!
LikeLike
It’s an remarkable piece of writing in favor of all the web users; they will obtain advantage from it I
am sure.
LikeLike
Incredible! This blog looks just like my old one!
It’s on a totally different topic but it has
pretty much the same layout and design. Excellent choice of
colors!
LikeLike
This piece of writing is really a pleasant one
it assists new the web people, who are wishing for blogging.
LikeLike
Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have
you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy.
The overall look of your site is wonderful, as well as the
content!
LikeLike
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz reply as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to know where u got this from.
thank you
LikeLike
My brother suggested I might like this web site.
He used to be totally right. This submit actually made my day.
You can not consider simply how a lot time I had spent for
this info! Thanks!
LikeLike
What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness
of precious knowledge about unpredicted feelings.
LikeLike
For most recent information you have to visit world wide web and on internet I
found this web site as a best site for newest updates.
LikeLike
What’s up mates, nice article and good urging commented here,
I am actually enjoying by these.
LikeLike
I know this web site gives quality dependent articles or
reviews and additional stuff, is there any other site which offers these kinds of information in quality?
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on keyword. Regards
LikeLike
Heya exceptional blog! Does running a blog similar to this require a great deal of work?
I’ve absolutely no knowledge of computer programming but I was hoping to start my own blog in the
near future. Anyways, if you have any ideas or tips for new blog owners
please share. I understand this is off topic but I simply needed to ask.
Thanks!
LikeLike
These are truly impressive ideas in on the topic of blogging.
You have touched some nice points here. Any way keep up wrinting.
LikeLike
I’m gone to convey my little brother, that he should also visit
this web site on regular basis to obtain updated from most recent information.
LikeLike
I’ve been surfing on-line more than three hours
nowadays, but I by no means discovered any interesting article like
yours. It’s beautiful worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all webmasters
and bloggers made excellent content material as
you probably did, the internet will probably be much more helpful than ever before.
LikeLike
With havin so much content and articles do
you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My blog has a lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but
it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you
know any methods to help protect against content from being stolen? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
LikeLike
Hurrah, that’s what I was seeking for, what a information! existing
here at this blog, thanks admin of this web page.
LikeLike
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you
access consistently quickly.
LikeLike
Good respond in return of this matter with real arguments and explaining all regarding that.
LikeLike
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your
web site is fantastic, as well as the content!
LikeLike
What i don’t understood is in truth how you are not really a lot more neatly-appreciated than you
might be now. You are very intelligent. You realize thus significantly in the case of this topic, produced me in my
opinion consider it from so many numerous angles. Its like men and women are not involved until
it’s something to do with Girl gaga! Your own stuffs nice.
All the time take care of it up!
LikeLike
My spouse and I stumbled over here from a different website
and thought I might as well check things out. I like what I see so now i am following
you. Look forward to going over your web page again.
LikeLike
Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve truly loved surfing around
your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing for your feed and I hope you write
once more very soon!
LikeLike
Hi there, I do believe your site might be having internet browser compatibility problems.
When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but
when opening in I.E., it’s got some overlapping issues.
I merely wanted to provide you with a quick heads up!
Aside from that, fantastic blog!
LikeLike
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this
onto a coworker who has been conducting a little homework
on this. And he in fact bought me dinner because I found it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah,
thanx for spending time to talk about this matter here on your web site.
LikeLike
I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers
except this post is really a good post, keep it up.
LikeLike
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to
this outstanding blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and
adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will share this site with my Facebook group.
Talk soon!
LikeLike
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew
of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically
tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like
this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some
experience with something like this. Please let me know if
you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and
I look forward to your new updates.
LikeLike
Good replies in return of this issue with firm arguments and
telling the whole thing about that.
LikeLike
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!
Thanks
LikeLike
Magnificent goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you’re just
too great. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you’re stating and the way
in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it wise.
I cant wait to read much more from you. This is actually a terrific site.
LikeLike
Link exchange is nothing else except it is only placing the other person’s blog link on your page
at appropriate place and other person will also do same for you.
LikeLike
Hi, Neat post. There is a problem together with your website in web explorer, might test this?
IE still is the market chief and a good portion of people will leave out your excellent writing because
of this problem.
LikeLike
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well
written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info.
Thanks for the post. I’ll definitely comeback.
LikeLike