Putin and Erdoğan – A “Beautiful Friendship” of Illiberal Presidents

Putin and Erdoğan’s “beautiful friendship” has been  defining Russian–Turkish political, diplomatic and  economic relations on the one hand, and the  handling of many conflicts, including the Syrian civil  war, for nearly two decades on the other. It can be  said that in many cases, when the interests of the  Russian and Turkish states clash with each other or  there are conflicts of principle and values, it is the two  presidents who, because of their similar habitus  and political character, find solutions to the problems.  One thing is for sure: without the  personalities of Erdoğan and Putin, the recent history  of the two nations would not be so diverse and full of  twists and turns. This article would like to give an  analytical journey into the common history of the  Turkish and Russian nations, as well as to the souls of  the two politicians to look at the reasons and  motivations behind the often contradictory political  moves. As relatively little work has been done on the  topic in Turkish, but more in English, the study is  based on scientific papers and Internet publications  written in the latter language. It aims at disclosing the  role of the two regional powers in a global  framework.