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Frenemies Putin & Erdogan
Mend Fences? |
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Stephen Lendman |
| Their worldviews are ideologically apart - Erdogan an international outlaw,
a thug, a major human rights violator, a wannbe sultan; Putin a man of honor,
a preeminent world leader, its leading peacemaker. Yet they’re both in a position to benefit by cooperating with each other. Erdogan wants severed trade relations restored. Putin demands he end aiding US-supported terrorists waging war on Syria. They have other mutually beneficial objectives in mind - an opportune time to pursue them given US/Turkish strained relations, testing the boundaries of how far Erdogan may diverge from US/NATO/EU policies he’s supported up to now. During a joint press conference following their meeting, Putin said “(w)e have gone through a very difficult moment in the relationship between our two countries, but now we would all like to overcome it in the interests of both our people.” “We want to restore our relationship not only for pragmatic reasons, but in the long-term interests of our countries, and for the sake of promoting good neighborly relations between Russians and Turks.” “Our views on resolving the Syrian situation have often been at odds. But I believe that finding a common approach is possible, at least because we both want the crisis to end. We will use this as the basis for finding common solutions.” Erdogan showed proper diplomatic respect during his visit. It remains to be seen if he’ll stop aiding US-supported terrorists waging war on Syria - a game-changer if so. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |
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