Putin and Erdogan Meet, Mend Fences

In his first foreign visit since last month’s attempted coup, Turkish President Recep Erdogan met Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. “The priority is to get back to the pre-crisis level of co-operation,” Putin reportedly told the Turkish leader, effectively mending a broken relationship that reached international crisis levels last November when Turkey shot down a Russian bomber near the Syrian border, causing Putin to impose sanctions against the Eurasian country. In response to Putin’s olive branch, Erdogan said it “meant a lot psychologically” to receive a call from the Russian leader following the failed coup. He added that “the Moscow-Ankara friendship axis will be restored.”