Sailing in Uncharted Waters: Turkish and Russian Divergence in Syria

The developments in the Middle East were arguably drawing a wedge between Turkey and Russia. Ankara’s forced landing of a Syrian passenger airplane en route from Moscow to Damascus and publicizing of some Russian military equipment intercepted aboard the airplane, for many analysts, was the final blow in the already strained relationship. The question at that juncture was whether the recent troubles in the Middle East might be so destructive that they might eventually undermine the Turkish-Russian relationship at its core. However, bilateral Turkish-Russian ties were unlikely to easily fall victim to the events, despite the severity of their differences over Syria.