Does might make right? It sure seems so in regards to the current stand-off between Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s President Erdogan. Both World Leaders seek to portray a strongman image of themselves in their countries and abroad. As Putin ramps up his war effort in Syria, he has expanded the role his air force has to play, and at times his warplanes have bombed rebel forces aligned with Turkey, along Turkey’s border. Subsequently, Turkey has seen these actions as an attack on its interests; of supplying and supporting Turkish-aligned Syrian rebels. Therefore, President Erdogan wants to be taken seriously in this political arena, and has downed a Russian warplane as a message to Putin, to stop his meddling in Turkish foreign policy.
Putin has a cult following in Russia, as he is seen as the saviour of post-soviet Russia. Accordingly, Putin pulled his nation from stagnation and put Russia in the limelight once more, with his unprecedented policies; of cracking down on homosexuals, more than quadrupling Russia’s GDP, reigniting Russian patriotism, seizing Crimea, and fighting a war in Ukraine and Syria. His fandom also includes a myriad of internet users, who have come to associate Putin as the epitome of manliness and male bravado, like seriously he’s ex-KGB , with an 8th degree black belt in Judo, who walks like a gunslinger, and has repeatedly made President Obama look like a fool. Consequently, Putin hasn’t taken President Erdogan’s actions lightly, and sees it as a stab in the back, since both nations have shared strong economic and political ties, as more than half of Turkey’s natural gas is imported from Russian. In lieu of this Putin has demanded an apology, and when it wasn’t offered he severed various diplomatic and finical ties with Turkey. Putin’s retaliation has been in the form of sanctions on Turkey, targeting the import of Turkish goods/services and travel bans. Furthermore, Putin has stated that he won’t stop the bombing of Syrian rebels aligned with Turkey, and he has used the downing of the Russian warplane to garner support at home, for the war effort in Syria.
The heavyweight goes against a lesser known, but equally pragmatic strongman, who was responsible for the downing of a Russian warplane, and offered no apology or remorse for the action; Turkey’s own Erdogan. The latter President is a retired professional soccer star, who has also reignited nationalist sentiment in Turkey, and seeks to play hardball when it comes to Turkey’s domestic and foreign affairs. Erdogan has even taunted Putin by stating that he wouldn’t apologize for the downing of the Russian warplane, insisting “those who violated [Turkish] airspace are the ones who need to apologize”, referring to Russia. Erdogan has had a sharp tongue when calling out Putin, and he is able to do this partially due to Article 5 of the NATO agreement. Article 5 states “an attack on one Ally shall be considered an attack on all Allies”, meaning an attack on Turkey would be considered an attack on the US, UK, Canada and all other NATO Allies. Erodogan’s NATO buddies have also turned a blind eye to Turkey’s involvement in the rise of ISIS, and its continued purchase of oil, that’s sold to Turkey by ISIS and ISIS affiliates.
Erdogan’s actions of shooting down a Russian warplane have ruined its ties with one of its largest trading partners, and possibly ignited a feud that we have yet to see the worst of. Moreover, Erdogan’s war of words is nothing more than words, while Putin has decided to take concrete action by implementing sanctions on Turkish goods. Furthermore, Russia could even threaten to stop pumping nearly half of Turkey’s needed natural gas, crippling Turkey. However, Erdogan is unlikely to give into threats, and could just as easily close the Bosporus strait, which connects the Black sea to the Mediterranean, rendering Russia’s warm water navy useless, and halting all Russian exports from the Black sea. This new rivalry is something to watch, as both leaders are known to be unpredictable and don’t back down from a fight, making it more of a stand-off than a game of chicken.
