In today’s diplomatic world, characterised as it is by the rivalry of a US-led West and a China-Russia axis, one alliance’s gain is often the other’s loss.Turkey’s shift in its foreign policy focus regarding the world’s two main rival alliances is a case in point. Just as Ankara looks to boost ties with Beijing and Moscow, its relations with Washington and the rest of the West are plumbing the depths.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to China last week, which saw his eighth meeting since 2013 with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, was an effort to build on budding economic and political ties at a time when both Beijing and Ankara are in the bad books of the United States.
