As Turkey's relations with Europe and the United States are strained by the fallout from its failed coup, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to Russia on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir Putin in a trip he may hope will give the West pause for thought.
Turkish officials insist Erdogan's visit to St. Petersburg is no sign that the NATO member and European Union membership candidate is turning its back on the West. Rather, they say, it is the next step in a rapprochement with Russia that started weeks before the attempted putsch on July 15.
But the thaw with Moscow, which imposed trade sanctions nine months ago after Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border, comes as Ankara's relationship with the West could scarcely be more fractious.