FactualOne is a cold-blooded calculator, the other exalted tribune. But the Russian and Turkish presidents share their aversion to the West and their thirst for power. Heirs to rival empires, both are now benefiting from their relationship. Even if Moscow does not appreciate the intrusions of Ankara in the Caucasus or in Ukraine.
In one of the many halls of the Kremlin, the fortress symbol of Russian power, a Turkish delegation led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waits to be received by the host, President Vladimir Putin. On this Thursday, March 5, 2020, the Turks are nervous. Eight days earlier, 34 of their soldiers were killed in an airstrike in Idlib province, the last stronghold of the rebellion against Bashar Al-Assad in northwestern Syria. The bomb – a laser-guided device – was Russian; it pulverized the building where the soldiers had taken refuge, after a bombardment on their convoy. The tension between Ankara, protector of the Syrian rebels, and Moscow, Damascus’ main ally, is at its height.
The unease of Turkish guests is palpable. The faces are contorted, the gazes are turned automatically on the portraits which adorn the walls, those of the Tsarist generals who fell from the Ottoman army during the multiple conflicts which opposed the two empires. Alas, Erdogan collapses on a chair. The delegation is finally invited to enter the room where Vladimir Poutine receives. The decor is neat. On a marble fireplace stands a clock depicting the victory of the Tsarist army over the Sublime Porte in the Balkans, in 1878, while on the right dominates the statue of Empress Catherine II, who tore off the Crimean Khanate to the Ottoman Empire in 1783.
It is under the bronze of Catherine the Great that the delegation gathered, standing, to attend the discussions. The two presidents are seated side by side in front of the fireplace. The interview can begin. It is well known, Vladimir Poutine likes to be desired. Nothing exceptional then, except that this sequence was then broadcast in a loop on Russian television channels. It is about emphasizing how the master of the Kremlin belittled his host, reminding him which of the two empires, Tsarist and Ottoman, had once been stronger on the battlefields.
At this moment, the Russo-Turkish relationship seems wavering. But, faced with Erdogan, livid and visibly exasperated, Putin knows how to find the words: no, the strike was not intended for the Turkish military. Moreover, the Russian general staff had not been informed of their movement in Idlib. On the mantelpiece, the clock which recalls the defeat of the Ottomans ticks the hours. The discussion drags on. Finally, a compromise is found, in the form of a ceasefire in Idlib, where thousands of Turkish soldiers are deployed and which Bashar Al-Assad is eager to reconquer thanks to air support from Moscow. The agreement is precarious, the Syrian impasse remains intact, but the essential is there: escalation is avoided.
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