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Can the Putin-Erdogan Partnership Last?

Jamie Dettmer

   The partnership between Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep
   Tayyip ErdoÄan has taken the West by surprise. The two leaders met no
   less than six times in 2019, underscoring the close relationship
   they've established, one that seems at times built on a mutual interest
   in riling Turkey's NATO partners.

   And this year they alreadyhavemet twice, with the latest encounter in
   Berlin at an international conference aimed at resolving the seemingly
   intractable conflict in Libya, which for centuries was part of the
   Ottoman Empire, and has been plagued by war and instability since the
   ouster of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

   They've collaborated, too, on Syria, despite backing opposing sides in
   the long-running conflict and where, as in Libya, they have positioned
   themselves as twin arbiters. But is this just a marriage of
   convenience, a partnership that's bound eventually to unravel because
   of conflicting geopolitical ambitions and the difficulty they face
   controlling their clients, who are not always pliant?

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