by Burak Bekdil • October 4th
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chinese President Xi Jinping are discussing more trade -- and in their local currencies, rebuffing the dollar.
As of now, Turkey sees the United States as an ungrateful ally and Russia is Turkey's new love affair. For Erdoğan, it is still "Russia time."
Germany needs Turkey's cooperation in halting the flow of Islamic jihadists currently stationed in Syria but who may always use Turkish territory to reach the EU. Turkey needs German technology, investment and money.
The continuous decline of democratic values and civil liberties in Turkey will remain a problem between Ankara and most Western capitals, including Berlin. During the recent state visit to Germany of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (left), Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (right) publicly criticized Turkey's holding of German citizens, among others, as political prisoners. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
Turkey's President does it all the time. In 2009, then-prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused China of genocide for the deaths of hundreds of Uighur Turks. Less than a decade later, with his newfound "Eurasianism," Erdoğan's Turkey and President Xi Jinping's China are discussing more trade -- and in their local currencies, rebuffing the dollar .
In 2015, the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Air Force fighter jet along Turkey's troubled border with Syria. Russia responded strongly in 2016 by imposing punishing sanctions on Turkey. At the time, Erdoğan was courting Washington. In fear of further -- and even military -- punishments from Moscow, Erdoğan described Turkey's relations with Washington as a "strategic partnership."
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