Post Cold War political realignments continue, from the Guardian:
SAMSUN, Turkey (AP) – During the Cold War, Turkey’s Black Sea coast was the site of U.S. radar stations that looked across the sea into Russia to snoop on the Soviet fleet and nuclear missile tests.
Now, Russian gas warms the Turkish capital, and Moscow is this NATO ally’s second largest trading partner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Turkey’s Black Sea coast Thursday for a ceremony to inaugurate a $3.2 billion pipeline, another sign of Russia’s growing economic influence in Turkey, ties that are so strong that a Turkish general once proposed that Turkey consider an alliance with Russia instead of the European Union.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will also attend the ceremony. Italy’s Eni SpA was a key partner in the construction of the pipeline.
Washington had balked at proposals to build the pipeline and has warned Turkey about its dependence on Russia, which now supplies 60 percent of the country’s gas and 20 percent of its oil.
But Turkish officials say that in a world of tight gas supplies they have little choice but to increase their dependence on Russia, which produces almost as much oil as Saudi Arabia…
The pipeline ceremony will also highlight growing business ties between the two countries and their burgeoning political relationship. Erdogan and Putin have met five times since Erdogan’s party took control of parliament in 2002 and trade with Russia is expected to reach $15 billion this year…
Gen. Tuncer Kilinc – at the time head of the powerful National Security Council – said that Turkey needed new allies and it would be “useful if Turkey engages in a search that would involve Russia and Iran.”…