Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Moscow, March 5, 2020

Welcome to Deep Dive Politics’ World Unfiltered. I will be interviewing experts on international affairs to get behind the headlines, empowering us with an informed understanding of the events affecting our countries and communities.

In our debut VideoCast, I chat with Dr. Emre Ersen of Marmara University about Turkish-Russian relations. We assess the shift from conflict to cooperation, with the two countries sometimes aligned but sometimes on opposite sides of conficts from Syria to Libya to Nagorno Karabakh.

We look at the political and economic dynamics of the relationship and ask about its basis: A “marriage of convenience” in geopolitics? Economic interests and leverage? Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin?

And don’t miss Dr. Ersen’s answer to the final question: What will be the biggest influence on the Ankara-Moscow relationship in 2021?

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00:00 Introduction

02:26 Has Turkish-Russian relationship been marked by cooperation or conflict over the past century?
05:18 How can we understand Turkish-Russian relations in the context of Syria and other issues?

09:45 “Managed Regional Rivalry”: How are Turkey and Russia negotiating differences over cases from Libya to Nagorno Karabakh?

13:52 Will Turkey move away from US and Europe towards an “Eurasian Bloc” with Russia, China and Iran?

21:53 How much of personalities upon institutions? How much is it depend on Erdoğan and Putin? What will happen if both of them disappear?

25:26 How important is Turkey for Russia?

28:16 Will Turkey be the bridge between Russia and the West or will that bridge be broken?