Are you suggesting we should want Putin to liberate Constantinople??
Istanbul not Constantinople. That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.
There is good possibility that more clashes will come between these two countries. Russians are fighting against local rebels who are in good terms with Turks. Turks are battling Kurds who are straddling on both Turkey and Syria. Turks bomb Kurdish positions inside Syria from time to time.
Next time around, Russia's long-range SAMs could shoot down Turkish warplanes bombing Kurds inside Syria. According to latest news, Russia is sending S-400(?) to Syria. This raises the prospect of another front opening in Syria-Turkish border.
This may be a chain reaction nobody really wants, but may not be able to contain, once it gains momentum.
This is all boils down to what kind of state Russia is or what kind of person Putin is.
Russians want to see themselves as imperial power. In that context, the disintegration of Soviet Union was a great misfortune to many Russians and Putin.
They all want to see the empire rebuilt. This time along the line of traditional Russian empire which existed before 1917. This new state also needs the state ideology, and that is Orthodox Christianity.
It is not important if Putin is a genuine Christians. If you look at czars in old Russian empire, you have to wonder if they are real Christians. They were ruthless and power-hungry. That is what it takes to survive as a czar. Putin is no different. The man could be another of many sou-less cynical KGB personalities. However, he will play the champion of Christianity to rule over his new empire. Orthodox church will be happy to help. It is a win-win arrangement.
Institutionalized religion rarely behaves as purely religious entity. It is usually very politically active and deeply intertwined with state power.
Both Russian state and Russian church are pushing Orthodox Christianity as its state ideology. Their church apparently believes that Russian people have to undergo some trial and tribulation to be spiritually reborn. So it in that context that some Orthodox clergies see the plane crash in Sinai as one of those episodes which will "awaken" Russian people. This is all about strengthening the power of church. Yes, their heart is, in all likelihood, not pure and they could be engaged in cynical political calculus.
In this forum, there are people who are taken by Putin's actions and start to genuinely believe that he is a good Christian. Then there are others who are incensed to see this trend in FR, and try to reject any notion that Putin's Russia would advance some Christian cause. I think both see only one side of picture.
Even the Crusade was the political decision. Those who launched it were no saints.