Putin demands Russian fighter jets escort him to Turkey

Since last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed several official visits to Turkey.

A multitude of reasons have been offered by officials. Some have said Putin has been avoiding any countries that were not part of the Soviet Union since the Ukraine war began. Others have put it down to the Russian elections earlier this year.

However, sources familiar with Russian thinking told Middle East Eye that Putin’s conditions to visit Ankara are the primary reason for the constant delay. 

Putin would like to fly to Turkey with Russian fighter jet escorts, the sources said, possibly concerned by Ukraine's ability to shoot down aircraft on the flight route.

Moscow’s demand to fly in with Russian fighter jets, and also possibly land them in Turkish territory, is a complicated matter, as Nato air-defence systems in the country could perceive such aircraft as enemy targets. 

One person familiar with the talks said Turkey isn’t likely to shut Nato systems down to accommodate the Russian request. 

In the latest deliberations over a visit, Russian and Turkish officials have discussed Putin arriving in the first week of October. Yet the specific fighter jet demand makes the scheduling and organisation of the visit very unlikely, sources said. The last time Putin visited Ankara was in 2014.

Two former Turkish ambassadors, who were previously closely involved in diplomatic protocol surrounding the visits of foreign heads of state, told MEE that the Russian request was very unusual. 

“The Turkish government may send fighter jets to escort foreign heads of states as a gesture,” said one of the former ambassadors.

“Nonetheless, I cannot recall any visit where the foreign heads of state would like to bring over his or her country’s fighter jets along.” 

A third former Turkish ambassador said there was no specific protocol governing such demand, leaving it up to debate. 

Yet the Russian demands aren’t only limited to fighter jets. 

Russian officials also complain that the three largest hotel venues in Ankara - the Hilton, Sheraton and JW Marriott - are US-owned businesses. 

Moscow, according to the people familiar with the issue, sees US hotel chains as unsafe for the Russian head of state.

This raises the possibility of whether Ankara could provide a government guest house to host Putin, a highly unusual dynamic that has no recent comparisons.

Sources last year told MEE that Putin’s security concerns might have played a role in his Ankara trip being postponed.

Because Turkey is a member of Nato, Russian officials are specifically concerned about possible attempts on his life or his entourage, the sources said. 

At first glance, the Russian concerns on the hotel chains might appear valid, but Putin doesn’t need to stay at a hotel if he's only dropping into Turkey for a day.

For example, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi made an official visit to Ankara last week, coming in around noon and leaving that evening after attending a series of meetings.

MEE has asked Russian officials for comment, but has not received a response by the time of the publication. The Turkish foreign ministry declined to comment. 

While Turkey and Russia enjoy strategic relationships based on energy, trade and tourism, they periodically have their ups and downs. 

Earlier this year, Putin criticised Ankara for supplying weapons to Ukraine. Moscow is also uneasy about the Turkish banking system, which largely stopped transactions with Russia after US secondary sanctions were imposed in December that threatened financial institutions trading with Russian banks. The move resulted in the loss of some bilateral trade. 

Significantly, however, several high-level Russian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow would like to build a second nuclear power plant in Turkey's Sinop, following the one it constructed in Akkuyu.

Both countries are also discussing establishing a gas hub in western Turkey.