Aspiring President for Life of Turkiye Recep Erdogan is attempting to negotiate a fuel deal with the Russian Federation (Bloomberg). Erdogan’s popularity has declined drastically in recent years, partially because of economic troubles. “In March 2018, Moody’s downgraded Turkey’s sovereign debt into junk status, warning of an erosion of checks and balances under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” (Wikipedia) Erdogan is hoping Vladimir Putin can alleviate some of the economic problems by selling him oil paid for in part with Turkish Liras.

Erdogan is also unpopular for democratic backsliding in his NATO nation. Next year is election year in Turkiye. We’ll see if he takes lessons from Putin’s party’s questionable election win (BBC).

“His (Erdogan’s) government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia.. Erdoğan’s rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent.” (Wikipedia)