Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed to switch part of payments for Russian gas to the rouble currency, Interfax news agency has reported, citing Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
During a four-hour meeting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the two leaders also agreed to boost cooperation in the transport, agriculture and construction industries, Russia’s news agency TASS reported.
They also stressed the need to ensure the implementation of the Istanbul grain agreements, including unimpeded exports of Russian grain.
Erdogan is deeply failed at home. He needs to be seen doing anything at all to help his own economy. He is the head of the Turkish state. He does not as a reality represent Turkey. As a dictator he is forcing a revolution upon his own office. He is scum as a man.
Erdogan is shutting the door for Turkey’s joining the EU.
Greece shut that at the gate. What Turkey is doing is in the interest of Turkey. They are not a vassal state of the EU, the US or Russia for that matter. Some day, when you have nothing better to do, go over the timeline of the Syrian revolt (against, whether you like them or not, the legitimate government of Syria), its interface with the fight against ISIS, the Kurds, the Russians, the US and Lebanon - as well as their relations with each other (not to mention the current of Israeli interests going through the area). All this in the presence of the Egypt/Israel/Saudi/UAE axis pushing back against the Iran/Hizballah/Yemen group.
This is a rough neighborhood for a guy to play in.
Turkey has been blockading the Bosporus to prevent military ships of both Ukraine and Russia from passing. They are now instrumental in allowing grain transports from both to pass. They are not so much pro-Russian, as anti-Kurd (who were allies of the US in Iraq and Syria). In a world where petroleum is a vital currency for nations, Turkey is being pragmatic in choosing a weak currency (as compared to the USD) to buy fuel from their neighbor.
Erdogan, facing an election next year, is in a complicated situation, with Turkey experiencing skyrocketing annual inflation of nearly 80%. This economic crisis would no doubt intensify without Russian gas supplies.
Turkey imports nearly half of the gas it uses from Russia.
In a world where petroleum is a vital currency for nations, Turkey is being pragmatic in choosing a weak currency (as compared to the USD) to buy fuel from their neighbor.
Turkey is being pragmatic in choosing a weak currency (as compared to the USD) to buy fuel from their neighbor. — They are buying natural gas not oil…
And yet we read…
Turkey has no plans to stop buying Russian oil, minister says www.turkishminute.com/2022/03/09/rkey-has-no-plans-to-stop-b…
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Tuesday that his country would continue to buy Russian oil, Reuters reported. Turkey relies on Russia for 45% of its natural gas demand, 17% of its oil and 40% of its gasoline, Bayraktar said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference.
The Turkish government was quite different in 1952.
DB2
NATO created an FOB (Forward Operating Base) at Konya Turkey for the NATO AWACs that brought in a lot of money and prestige for the Turkish government.
I was working at the main AWACs base in Geilenkirchen Germany when it became fully operational in 1983. Shortly after that I applied for a civilian job on base and actually had two offers. One was a civilian (B2) job in the next office to where I was working as military switch action programmer … so I took the higher paying (B4) one working for logistics on base. When I left ten years later I was a B6 Senior Analyst programmer making an insane (to me) tax free salary and lots of vacation time. Wife wanted to go home. }};-(
In 1979, at the assembly of NATO AEW&C Programme Management Agency (NAPMA) members, it was decided to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Turkey. The agreement between the Turkish government and NAPMA was realized with the establishment and activation of FOB Konya on 24 October 1983.
In accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement, deployed E-3A aircraft are supported by FOB Konya during the pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight phases. Maintenance is part of the support and is based on a limited organizational maintenance capability oriented toward aircraft turnaround and servicing functions. These tasks include pre-flight and post-flight inspections, tire changes, correction of flight safety discrepancies and replacement of minor component parts. Ops Section assures thorough efficient flight dispatch operations and supervises information updates for the aircrews and timely reports required by the Main Operating Base.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Tuesday that his country would continue to buy Russian oil, Reuters reported. Turkey relies on Russia for 45% of its natural gas demand, 17% of its oil and 40% of its gasoline, Bayraktar said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference.
DB2
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Turkey is more dependent on Russia than the EU countries. I thought Turkey would have been better prepared knowing that Russia is such an unreliable supplier. Ukraine is just across the Black Sea and they saw all the mischief Russia created in Ukraine from 2004 to 2022.
“Turkey has a strongman in the process that always means misallocations of resources.”
The Republic of Turkey has had a long and very interestingly complicated history regarding Religion & Secularism and Authoritarianism & Freedom. The Turkish Repubic has had very nasty leaders at times, but they all at least paid obeisance to the idea of long enshrined secularist governance and the legalities of a civil society. Erdogan has broken the box by becoming (or revealing himself?) as an extreme religious authoritarian sprung from a brilliantly slick corrupt hoodlum willing to use extreme traditionalist Islam as an ally while crushing civil law and liberty in Turkey.
david fb
(yes, I really do detest him, as do many many Turks, and the youngsters tip against him)