Turkey and Russia Troll NATO in the Black Sea – The American Interest

The strange and opportunistic partnership between Turkey and Russia was on full display in the Black Sea this week, as the two sides conducted joint naval exercisessure to irk NATO.Newsweek:

Russias Black Sea Fleet joined the Turkish navy in the strategic body of water, which has been a source ofheightened tensions due to parallel military exercisesby Russia and members of NATO, of which Turkey was a part. []

As part ofthe drill, ships ofthe two countries practiced exit froma naval base, joint maneuvering and communication, aswell asrepelling an attack ofa small-sized high-speed target, an inspection operation, search forand rescue ofa person inthe water, Trukhachev told reporters, according to RussiasSputnik News.

In one sense, this is a dynamic that has been obvious for a while:Turkey is restless and Russia is happy to be a flirt. Erdogan, for his part, has been fanning the flames of anti-Western sentiment at home leading up to the bigreferendumon expanding the powers of the Presidency. Doing war games with Russia serves similar domestic needs: it signalsthat Turkeyhas geopolitical options outside Western institutions, and that Erdogan has global clout. For Russia, the drills providea golden opportunity to pick at growing schism between NATO allies.

At the end of the day, everyone concernedknows that there are strict limits to the relationship between Russia and Turkey. (Its already a Potemkin friendship.) But games like this are not without consequence.Themistrust being generated is real, and will impact the Alliance going forward.

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Turkey and Russia Troll NATO in the Black Sea - The American Interest