NEWSWATCH The National Interest/Nikolas K. Gvosdev: “Russian Jet Down in Turkey: Misstep or Game-Changer?”

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Writing for The National Interest, Nikolas K. Gvosdev comments upon possible repercussions from Turkey’s shoot-down of a Russia military jet.

In the immediate aftermath, whatever progress Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan achieved on the sidelines of the Antalya G-20 summit is now completely lost. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s trip to Turkey, which was designed to get the Turkish-Russian agenda back on track, has now been cancelled. The shoot-down may prove to be the final nail in the coffin of a losing four-year attempt by both Russia and Turkey to find a way to compartmentalize their deep disagreements over Syria from infringing upon a very lucrative economic relationship between the two countries. Putin’s comments about a “stab in the back,” and Erdogan’s own clear statements that Turkey will not stand by any infringement of its airspace, suggest that a rapid move by both sides to offer apologies and to put the incident behind them seem to signal that this incident will continue to have negative consequences for the relationship.

Click here for The National Interest/Nikolas K. Gvosdev – “Russian Jet Down in Turkey: Misstep or Game-Changer?”

 

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