Posted on 06/05/2019 1:12:52 AM PDT by NorseViking
The unannounced visit to Turkey of the chief of the Russian National Guard — an internal security establishment also known as Vladimir Putin’s personal army — will undoubtedly be given hard scrutiny by Western capitals amid increasing criticism of Turkey’s drift away from its NATO allies.
Viktor Zolotov, the head of the Russian National Guard, Rosgvardiya, a security unit that oversees anti-riot police and SWAT teams, paid a surprise visit to the capital, Ankara, from May 13-18 with a “heavily loaded” agenda, Turkish security sources told Al-Monitor. Although his Russian delegation's carefully crafted schedule didn't include any direct contact with the Turkish army, NATO's second largest, the visit heralds further military cooperation between Russia and Turkey.
The delegation of 11 officials led by Zolotov held talks with several Turkish security officials, the sources told Al-Monitor.
Zolotov, whose special force of 200,000 provides policing and military capabilities, is an influential name when it comes to Russia’s security policies. As a close friend of Putin, Zolotov recently made headlines in Russia by ridiculing the country’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny by challenging him to a duel.
Zolotov’s visit wasn’t announced prior to his arrival and was low profile for the most part. The Turkish news media said the goal of the visit was information sharing between the Russian National Guard and Turkish gendarmerie forces. Accordingly, Russians wanted to learned the general structure of the Turkish Gendarmerie Command and its operations and to work toward beneficial sharing of information between two states that have close historical and cultural ties. As Al-Monitor reported in 2017, the Turkish Gendarmerie Command has been increasingly interested in Asia.
Turkey’s pro-Russian newspaper Aydinlik reported that Zolotov’s visit wasn’t limited to information sharing and that concrete steps were taken during the visit for institutional cooperation between Russian and Turkish interior
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
During the Russian war on Chechnya, Chechnyian terrorists, or Freedom Fighters, depending on your view, were sheltered in Turkey by the Turkish government. These terrorist/Freedom Fighters were regularly assassinated, in Turkey, by the Russians.
My, what a strange world we live in.
Chechen opposition mischief wasn’t limited to Russian soil.
(Chechen President) Kadyrov urges Erdogan to extradite Chechen terrorists hiding in Turkey
“” “” Chechen leader said that Akhmet Chatayev left Russia as “rank-and-file bandit”.
Acting Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extradite terrorists who have fled Chechnya and are hiding in Turkey.
The Chechen leader also said that if Akhmet Chatayev was complicit in the recent terror attack in Istanbul airport, responsibility for his actions should be borne by the special services of the West, Georgia and other countries.
“I’m glad that the relations between Turkey and Russia are returning to the normal course. I’m requesting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan once again to make a decision on the extradition of terrorists,” Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram page.
Was one of the Istanbul terrorists a Russian citizen?
The Chechen leader said he had numerously asked the Turkish leadership about the extradition of terrorists, giving their names and pointing to Movladi Udugov as their ideological mentor.
“I personally warned then-Interior Minister Besir Atalay in Ankara about a threat coming from them. I was assured that a decision on the extradition would be made but no actions followed,” Kadyrov said.”” “”
Don't forget the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, who was assassinated in Ankara by member of the Turkish police force in 2016.
Both Turkey and Russia play a dangerous game.
Historically there are no groups more hostile to each other than Slavs and Turks.
Been that way for most of the written history resulting it more than a dozen of wars between Turkey and Russia.
Although there was a remarkable rapprochment about the end of Cold War, more so recently.
It is not without inertia though.
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