Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) on September 23 received his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Kremlin.
On November 24, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 fighter jet, extending a series of conflicts between the two countries since Russia launched air strikes in Syria.
The downing of the plane was the first collision between a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia since President Vladimir Putin intervened militarily in Syria in late September.
Türkiye has previously expressed concern many times about Russia’s air strikes on Turkic targets.
Turkic rebels believe that Russia’s expansion of military operations into the Latakia region, western Syria, close to the Turkish border, is aimed at supporting the Syrian government army, Lebanon’s Hezbollah force and other Islamic forces.
Türkiye last weekend summoned the Russian ambassador to protest `fierce` air strikes on Turkic villages.
`We want to emphasize that Russia’s military operations are not against terrorism but against Turkic civilians. This action can lead to unpredictable consequences,` the Guardian quoted a statement from the Turkish foreign ministry.
For Ankara, the Turkic region in northwestern Syria is of strategic significance.
The Turkish press reported that in the past week alone, thousands of people in 50 Turk villages were forced to leave the Gimam area, Latakia region.
Omer Abdullah, leader of the Turkic Sultan Abdulhamit Brigade, called on the Turkish government to intervene to end the month-long air strikes, Cihan news agency reported.
`We are trying to endure these terrible attacks and desperately need help from Türkiye,` Abdullah said.
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) was also accused of smuggling weapons to Turkic forces earlier this year.
In addition, analysts assess that Russia’s military intervention in Syria also makes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan feel dissatisfied.
Türkiye and the US both believe that Russia’s presence will make the situation more chaotic, prolong the civil war in Syria and aggravate the refugee problem on the Turkish border.
Commentator Simon Tisdall commented that Mr. Erdogan probably felt dissatisfied because in September he was not consulted about Russia’s plans in Syria during a working session with President Putin in Moscow.
Türkiye and Russia have a tense past due to many disputes, such as Russia supporting Nagorno – Karabakh to secede from Azerbaijan, the war between the Ottomans in Turkey and the Tsarists in Russia in 1877 – 1878.. Relations have improved relatively in recent years thanks to energy and trade agreements between the two countries.
But because of that, Türkiye’s dependence on Russia is increasing.
Therefore, Mr. Erdogan certainly does not want this border incident to get out of control.