Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey held a telephone conversation on Friday, discussing among other things the Ukraine war, the ongoing Russian dialogue with the United States for ending the conflict and the normalisation of Russia-US ties.
A readout of the conversation showed that both leaders want stability in the region. Erdogan says Turkey and Russia need to work together to keep Syria from unravelling and help create a fair government in the post-Assad political space. He also wants sanctions against Syria lifted.
Both leaders also talked about reviving the Black Sea Initiative, a 2022 deal led by Turkey and the UN to safely transport Ukrainian farm goods. Russia pulled out in 2023 because western sanctions were blocking its own food and fertiliser exports. Erdogan promised to make the Black Sea safer for trade ships carrying grain and oil, showing how important the area is to Turkey.
Turkey’s position about the Ukraine war has been interesting. It has offered to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, juggling its place in NATO with its practical ties to Moscow. Unlike other NATO countries, Turkey hasn’t imposed sanctions on Russia, which allows Russian citizens to travel through Istanbul and possibly get around some trade limits. But Turkey has also sent Ukraine Bayraktar drones and blocked Russian warships in the Black Sea. It shows Turkey wants to limit Russia’s power even as it tries to maintain good relations for trade and diplomacy.
History explains a lot of these. Turkey and Russia have had a complicated relationship over the centuries, mixing cooperation with competition. For centuries, the Ottoman empire (modern Turkey’s predecessor) and Russia fought each other. Russia often had the upper hand, annexing Ottoman land or helping several territories to break away.
By the 1800s, Russia controlled the Black Sea’s north coast and nearly took Istanbul in the 1877-78 war. During World War I, the Allies promised the Russian Tsars big chunks of Turkish territories, and the plan did not work out only because of the 1917 Russian Revolution.
Crimea is a big issue from the past. It was part of the Ottoman Empire for 300 years till Russia took it in 1783. Today, Putin uses history to claim land, like when Russia grabbed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Turkey, however, still calls it Ukrainian land. However, Erdogan doesn’t fully endorse the western position on the dispute, showing he is okay working with Russia for now.
Erdogan wants Turkey to be a big player again, like it was in the Ottoman days, and successes in places like Azerbaijan and Syria prove this. Some think Turkey could even use its old claim to Crimea to challenge Russia’s story.
Another dispute between the two countries could come on the Kurdish role in Syria. Erdogan wants the Kurdish-led SDF group to surrender arms and work with the Ahmed al-Sharaa government, but Russia would like the SDF to retain some degree of independence. Turkey’s army—NATO’s second biggest—could also stand in Putin’s way. Erdogan’s growing popularity in Muslim countries and his feelings about lost Ottoman lands like Crimea mean Turkey might stop being a middleman and start pushing back if it needs to.
The future depends on whether Turkey and Russia can keep working together or if the old antagonism resurfaces. The recent phone call shows they want to keep things steady for now, but it’s a shaky balance that might not last.