Neighbor with whom it is better not to quarrel: what Turkey thinks about Russia

Relations between Russia and Turkey have never been simple. Perhaps, with no other neighboring state, our country has not fought in its history as many times as with Turkey. But centuries-old wars did not embitter peoples against each other. What to hide, the attitude towards Russia and Russians in Turkey is much better than, for example, in the countries of Eastern Europe, which the Red Army freed from Nazi Germany, or in some kind of Norway, which did not fight with our country, spawn.





The perception of Russia and Russian by the Turks consists of several factors. First of all, this is the status of Russia as a great power. Turks are eastern people and respect strong states. At the same time, Turkey is very cool towards the United States. Despite the fact that Turkey is one of the key NATO members and a long-standing geopolitical ally of Washington, a significant part of the country's population is negatively inclined to membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. And Russia is seen as a power able to object to the Americans, to conduct its own policies. This cannot but cause respect.

Secondly, in Turkey, leftist (communist and socialist) ideas are still strong. They are supported by approximately 20% of the population, which means that almost all of these people somehow sympathize with Russia as the heir to the Soviet Union. For the Turkish left, Russia was and remains a country that 100 years ago defied capitalism, even if later it returned to a market the economy.

Thirdly, the Turks and Russians have much more in common than, for example, the Turks and the British or Americans. It is easier for a Russian person to understand the Turkish mentality, and a Turk - Russian. Even religious differences do not play a big role in this case. Both Turks and Russians are more collectivists than individualists.

Fourth, Russian culture is respected in Turkey. The average Turk knows much more about Russian literature than the average Russian knows about Turkish. Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Pushkin, Tolstoy, Mayakovsky - all these names are familiar to the Turkish reader and are very respected by them. Russian-Turkish cultural ties are perfectly illustrated by the fact that one of the most famous Turkish poets of the twentieth century, Nazim Hikmet, was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. He spent the last years of his life in the Soviet Union.

Finally, ordinary Russians and Turks, by virtue of established trade and tourist ties, contact with each other more often than Russians or Turks with Europeans. Hundreds of thousands of Russians relax in Turkey every year. They are already so used to them that knowledge of the Russian language is often one of the main requirements when applying for a job in the tourism sector in Turkey.

On the other hand, thousands of Turkish engineers, workers, and entrepreneurs are going to Russia. Mixed marriages between Turkish men and Russian women have long become commonplace.

Of course, there is a wary attitude in Turkey to the northern neighbor. Nevertheless, the history of the Russian-Turkish wars did not pass without a trace, and the propaganda of official Ankara is not always friendly to our country. For example, before Russia was constantly accused of supporting the Kurdish movement, in turn, the Russian secret services more than once revealed the links between Turkish radicals and extremists operating in the North Caucasus.

Although most Turks, of course, understand that the “Russian bear” is not going to attack their country, they are convinced that Russia is the neighbor with whom it is better not to quarrel. But Russia also benefits from the existence of a stable and strong Turkey, with which you can not be friends, but you definitely need to cooperate.