Why are America’s closest allies in the Middle East i.e. Turkey and Egypt getting close to Russia? Is Russia taking advantage of Donald Trump’s so-called flawed Middle East Policy?
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently completed his “hurricane” one-day tour to the Middle East with a visit to Ankara and talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two heads of state agreed on the negative consequences for the region of the previously announced decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a decision which has created a furore in the Islamic Nations especially the Middle East.
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Before arriving in the Turkish capital, Putin managed to visit the Russian military base “Khmeimim” in Syria and pay a working visit to Egypt. From Syria, he gave the order to begin the withdrawal of Russian troops from this Arab country, and in Egypt held talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
“Al-Jazeera” calls Putin’s Middle East tour as “hurricane” and “lightning”, referring to his one day visit. The Qatari TV channel also cites the assessments of Arab commentators who point to the main purpose of visits to Egypt and Turkey – to take advantage of the growing discontent with the policies of the current US administration in the Middle East, which is not hidden by Cairo and Ankara.
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This logic fits Mr. Putin’s statement in Ankara about the destabilizing effect on the region of the White House’s decision on Jerusalem. The correspondent of Al-Jazeera in the report from the Turkish capital speaks about Russia’s intention to “capitalize the anti-Tramp fever” in the Middle East.
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President Putin’s visit pursued the goal of “projecting force” into a region where “American allies,” Egypt and Turkey, are getting closer to Russia.
