Bandwagoning as an element of Turkish foreign policy : (on the example of Russian-Turkish relations)

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey and Russia have developed relations at various levels. Trade was one of them, and Russia is one of Turkey’s leading suppliers. Trade in energy carriers occupies a central position in the exchange between the two countries. In addition to these long-term economic factors, a new series of common political interests have emerged in the past few years between Moscow and Ankara, and more specifically between their presidents. The Russian president played his cards wisely when Turkey felt insufficiently supported by the West in the face of international and domestic threats, paradoxically after the Turkish army shot down a Russian jet in 2015 and in the context of the failed coup in Turkey in 2016. The suspicion of both leaders towards the USA and the world of Western values brought them closer to each other, and the aforementioned events made the foundations of Turkish-Russian cooperation take on a personal character. Behaviorism in relations between the two capitals is best seen in the conflict in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh.