5 augustus 2016

The failed military coup against president Erdogan will affect the foreign policy of Turkey. The military was focused on the West. Erdogan will probably shift to the East. The Kremlin has reason to be satisfied. Ankara and Moscow can now resume important joint economic projects, writes Fyodor Lukyanov, editor in chief of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.

Illu Turkije RuslandIllustratie Nanette Hoogslag

by Fyodor Lukyanov

From the beginning, Turkey was one of the most active and ambitious players in the so-called Arab Spring that shook the foundations of the Middle East from 2010-2012. It is no surprise that such outward instability has seeped inward.

During the past five years of changes in the region, Turkey has come into conflict with practically all of its key partners, gotten mired in Syria’s internal intrigues, confronted a sharp escalation of Kurdish dissatisfaction, and undermined its own economy that until then had enjoyed impressive growth.

Turkish President Recep Erdogan apparently realized some time ago that the country was heading nowhere, and this is what prompted recent attempts at reconciliation with Russia and Israel. However, he needed a weightier pretext in order to extricate the country from the dead end into which he had driven it, and the attempted coup came as a strange but convenient gift in this regard.