Turkey in damage control mode with apology to Russia: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Weber, the director of Institute for Historical Review, to discuss Turkey's decision to re-establish diplomatic ties with Moscow after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally apologized for the downing of a Russian warplane last year. 

A rough transcription of the interview appears below.

Press TV: This Recep Tayyip Erdogan is very different from the Erdogan that we've seen right after the shooting down of that Russian jet where he was extremely defiant saying there will be no apology and that what happened was right.

Weber: Right. Well of course this is an embarrassing climb-down for the Turkish president but it does show that he's trying to repair at least some of the damage that's been the result of his reactive and often short-sighted policies in recent years. As you pointed out last November he was insistent that there was not going to be any apology coming from him or his government and the reason basically is that he's responding to the sanctions that Russia imposed after the shooting down and the lack of any apology and the Turkish government miscalculated, I think, in the damage that would be done to the Turkish economy by these sanctions. So, Erdogan is taking account of the reality and trying to repair some of the damage by his defiant stance in November.

Press TV: I am curious as far as your opinion on this goes. By apologizing to Russians and trying to amend Turkey’s relationship with it, is Erdogan signaling that he's no longer relying on that EU-Turkey deal on refugees?

Weber: It's part of a larger effort I say by the Turkish government to come to grips with some big realities and above all with the Syria conflict in the region which is of course the main issue of strife and contention and dispute. As everyone knows, the Russian government is backing the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Turkey has been supporting rebels that are trying to overthrow the government. Erdogan I think is re-calibrating this foreign policy to take into account the reality of the entire region including the refugee situation, the shooting down, and above all the serious situation because he miscalculated as did other governments and thinking that the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad would be overthrown very quickly. That's not happened. The Syrian government has proven far more durable, far stronger, far more popular than leaders in Turkey and other countries calculated and I think this represents an important re-calibration of policy to take into account the realities of the region including above all the realities in Syria.

Press TV: Right now when it comes to Erdogan it seems that he has made a lot of miscalculations be it with his foreign policies you just pointed out or even the internal policies like dealing with the Kurds in the opposition in Turkey. Right now as Erdogan finds himself without many allies and without friends, do you think that we will see a rapprochement kind of sorts that is when it comes to Syria?

Weber: At least there's a realization in Turkey and other countries that the Syrian government is not going to be overthrown as Erdogan and leaders in the United States and some other countries expected or anticipated. How far this goes is still unclear. That's hard to say just how extensively the reset of Turkish foreign policy will be. In any case though in order to have good relations with Russia, it's going to at least have to acknowledge the important role that Russia plays in backing Syria and that's all basically to the good because policies by any government that are based on delusional ideas of reality are not going to be good for anybody and at least the Turkish leaders are taking reality more into account at least in the short-run by this apology than he has in the past.

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