Deutsche Welle: “Boyish” relationships: Why does Putin want to open the Syunik corridor or “authoritarian alpha male” games 

Ankara asks to be admitted to BRICS and, at the same time, calls on Russia to withdraw its claim to Crimea, Deutsche Welle writes. As noted, Erdogan is a master of sending signals to the Kremlin and winning strategic concessions from Putin.

Now Putin, Azerbaijan’s authoritarian leader Ilham Aliyev and Erdogan are trying to get a transit corridor through Armenia’s Syunik Province. This route will cut Armenia off from Iran. It is not surprising that Tehran is categorically against it and even directly warns Moscow of its displeasure.

It seems that the Iranians are Putin’s allies in the war against Ukraine. Although they deny their direct involvement, they still supply missiles to Russia. The Kremlin should not irritate its ally now, but it still continues to pressure Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to quickly conclude a peace treaty on the terms of Azerbaijan, which requires amending the Armenian Constitution and opening the corridor through Syunik. And it is already difficult to understand whether this is being done because Putin considers the transportation of goods through Turkey and later Armenia so important for Russia, or whether the most important thing for him is to help Erdogan.

In addition, Russia and Turkey are connected to the EU by Russian gas supplies. They are “accomplices” here, although Erdogan, of course, benefits more. Despite all the ties, Erdogan, in the classic form of an authoritarian leader, does not mind humiliating the Russian leader from time to time. Their relationship is “boyish”. Erdogan has been waiting for Putin’s visit for two years, and is clearly ready to wait longer. Authoritarian alpha males play their usual games, trying to outdo each other in every possible way, because the outcome of negotiations in their “world of purity” depends on it, which, however, does not change the main thing: Erdogan is happy to cooperate with Putin but seems to be waiting for his visit either in the role of a submissive “number two” in the South Caucasus or at least within the draft peace treaty with Ukraine. The other options are not beneficial enough for Erdogan, and Putin still does not have the tools to force the Turkish leader to play by the Kremlin’s rules,” the columnist believes.