Friendship, Leadership and Hegemonic Masculinity: An Interpersonal Relationship Between Turkey and Russia

Abstract

Since the Russian intervention in the Syrian crisis and Turkey’s subsequent downing of a Russian jet within the Syrian border in 2015, Russia has become a decisive actor influencing the course of Turkish foreign policy in a way reminding of the troublesome times of the eighteenth-century Ottoman Empire. The increasing influence of Moscow in the decision-making priorities of Ankara has resulted in Turkey’s purchase of S-400, the Russian missile system, which is incompatible with and rival to the NATO infrastructure. President Erdoğan, together with his regional and global counterparts, seeks leadership through friendship in his foreign-policy vision under the AKP rule and emphasizes his interpersonal relations with the world leaders while resolving the conflicts that Turkey involves in. In that respect, the Turkish-Russian relations revolve around the bilateral meetings between Erdoğan and Putin and the S-400 crisis seems to be handling on the friendship level. Against this background, however, one could argue that the recent Turkish-Russian relations unfold along a domination-subordination axis, which is linked to the larger debate on the hegemonic masculinity rather than friendship. This chapter seeks to assess the Turkish-Russian relations with a particular emphasis on the S-400 crisis, from the perspectives of friendship, leadership and hegemonic masculinity.