ArmInfo.As of today Turkey is a rather problematic, but still a partner of Russia, a partner with whom we have disagreements over Karabakh, Georgia, Syria and even Crimea. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by Sergey Markedonov, a leading researcher at the Euro-Atlantic Security Center of the MGIMO Institute for International Studies, Moscow.
"At the same time, I do not think that Turkey today poses a real threat to Russia. The presence of overlapping interests, in general, predetermines the need for interaction between Moscow and Ankara, interaction that allows avoiding confrontation. Yes, Erdogan is persistently trying to advance the idea of uniting the Turkic peoples living in Asia under the auspices of Turkey, but taking into account the different religious, national, civil identity of these peoples, the differences in the political goals of the states in which they live, I do not think that this is possible in the foreseeable future, "he stressed.
However, at the same time, Turkey, according to the analyst, is gradually becoming a competitor for many countries, moreover, a competitor that seriously changes both internal and external identity and, accordingly, priorities. A country consistently moving from the principles of secularism to serious appeals to religion, including in politics. In parallel, Erdogan is gradually replacing the principle of Turkish nationalism, focusing on internal problems, and imperial ambitions.
Such ambitions, in Markedonov's opinion, inevitably lead to the activity of Erdogan's Turkey in the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean. In this light, he noted that the South Caucasus is only one of the regions neighboring Turkey, where Erdogan is trying to change the status quo in his favor with the help of forceful actions. At the same time, the ambitions of the Turkish president, according to the analyst, are by no means limited to the surrounding regions. Ankara is constantly trying to promote in the UN the idea of the need to increase the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council, actively criticizing its current members, as well as constantly trying to get out of the cramped shadow of the United States.
In this regard, according to the analyst, a natural question arises about the possibilities of Turkey, opportunities for a country that has problems with all its neighbors. Couny with serious, moreover, constantly deepening economic problems. County with internal political problems, given that the leadership of Erdogan himself is far from indisputable and is contested even by his yesterday's associates. And although Turkey is not an empire, in Markedonov's opinion, it is already experiencing the overstrain inherent in empires. And, nevertheless, Ankara today makes a serious claim for the status, respectively, the international role of a middle power. And, in his opinion, it is far from the fact that this NATO member country will be able to implement it.
"Returning to Russia and our contradictions with Turkey, I would like to note that the presence of certain contradictions between Turkey and the United States, Turkey and the EU countries as a whole reflects Moscow's interest in weakening Euro-Atlantic solidarity. Since the Euro-Atlantic continues to pose a threat to us. In this light, any contradictions in this alliance are in the interests of Russia. And even knowing perfectly well that the anti-Western rhetoric of the same Erdogan does not at all mean his transition to the opposite camp, Russia is obliged to use these frictions in its own interests. ", Markedonov concluded.