TURNING EASTWARDS

The end of June has been marked by sensational steps in Turkey's foreign policy. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent a letter to his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin expressing his regrets over the downing of a Russian Su-24 fighter plane last autumn.

The Turkish leader referred to Moscow as Ankara's strategic partner and gave assurances that Turkey did not want to damage its relations with Moscow. 

"Once again I would like to express my sympathy and profound condolences to the family of the Russian pilot who died and say that I apologise. I share their pain with all my heart. To us the family of the Russian pilot is the same as a Turkish family. We are ready to undertake any initiative to soothe the pain and severity of the loss incurred," Erdogan's letter says.

Erdogan also notes that a new investigation has been started with regard to the Turkish citizen Alparslan Celik who is thought to have been involved in the death of the Russian pilot. The Turkish president's press secretary Ibrahim Kalin has stated that his country has come to an agreement with Russia to make concessions to one another in order to restore good relations.

"We are glad to announce that Turkey and Russia have agreed to take the necessary measures immediately to improve bilateral relations," he said. "The president has also called upon his Russian partners to restore the traditional friendly ties between Turkey and Russia, to work together to resolve regional crises and to jointly combat terrorism," Kalin noted. The foreign press immediately reacted to this step by the Turkish leader. 

Some of the media think that the apologies to Russia are an attempt to lessen the foreign political tension, in which Ankara now finds itself mired. The Washington Post does moreover write that "one of the most influential leaders in the region" has begun to settle the foreign political conflicts that have built up of late. A step like this by Erdogan is in itself a "considerable event", and Turkey is trying "to overcome its isolation", another American publication The Atlantic writes. Besides this, it is noted in many articles that Erdogan has been guided by "geopolitical considerations" in deciding to apologise to Moscow, since Russia is the main player in the present international political processes, including in the settlement of the Syrian civil conflict, in which the Turkish president has his own interests.

Erdogan's active steps to improve relations with the Kremlin are taking place against a backdrop of growing fears about security threats on the part of ISIS in the Middle East, Foreign Policy writes. The latter also links Erdogan's decision to take steps to meet Moscow halfway with the fact that Ankara's ties with the European countries are becoming weaker, which is increasingly cutting Turkey off from participation in international processes. By way of example, the publication cites Germany's recent recognition of the "Armenian genocide" perpetrated by the Ottoman empire in 1915.

Foreign journalists see yet another reason for Turkey's apologies as the considerable impact on it of Russia's sanctions imposed by Moscow after the shooting down of the Su-24. This is the version held by the British Financial Times which points out that the crisis in the tourist sector is the worst since 1999.

It is highly noteworthy that in an interview with the Turkish media Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim thanked Azerbaijan for its help in normalising relations with Russia.

"I would like to share with my people the important progress made in relations with Russia. Contacts between the two leaders have finally yielded results. The icy relations between the two countries have thawed out. This is much to the credit of our brothers, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which have applied efforts to normalise relations between Turkey and Russia. We are grateful to these countries," Yildirim said. 

Another many-year-long confrontation ends

On 27 June Israel and Turkey announced the conditions of a deal which will put an end to years of diplomatic wrangling in relations with the eastern countries of the Mediterranean and heralds a normalisation of relations. An accord has been reached on the exchange of ambassadors, an agreement has been initiated and will soon be signed, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already reported that Israel is to get gas supplies to Europe via Turkey going.

We would like to remind you that Israel and Turkey were strategic partners in the past, but they became alienated from one another against the backdrop of a re-orientation by Turkish of its foreign policy aimed at European integration towards strengthening positions with the Arab and Muslim world. The eventual break-up of the partnership between the countries occurred when a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, which headed the "Freedom Flotilla" tried to break through the food blockade of the Gaza strip in 2010, but was attacked by Israeli special forces. As a result, nine Turkish citizens and one Turkish resident of the USA were killed. After this, Ankara scaled down to diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv to a minimum, demanded official apologies, the payment of compensation and the lifting of the embargo on Gaza. Turkey continued to insist on these three conditions until recently.

Now the issue of financial compensation to the families of the Turkish activists who perished when the Israeli special forces stormed the vessel, the Mavi Marmara, has been fully settled, an Israeli diplomat told DW. The total sum of compensation amounts to something like 20m dollars. After this, all the law suits against Israel are no long valid. Besides this, both states are again to exchange diplomatic missions.

As far as the lifting of the embargo imposed on Palestine is concerned, the Israeli media note that, as a result of the agreement, Turkey can withdraw the demand that the blockade of the Gaza strip by Israel should be lifted immediately, in exchange for receiving permission to deliver humanitarian aid via the Israeli port city of Ashdod. Turkey will also be able to start building a hospital, a power station and a water purification complex on Palestinian territory.

Benjamin Netanyahu had previously discussed the future normalisation of relations between Israel and Turkey with US Vice-President Joe Biden. RIA "Novosti" has quoted a White House press release as saying that Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu had rung the vice-president on that day to thank him for his support for the negotiations between Israel and Turkey.

In his turn, the vice-president congratulated the prime minister on achieving progress in normalising relations with Turkey, having noted the considerable economic benefits and advantages in the security sphere for both countries and for the whole of the Eastern Mediterranean region, the White House press office added.