Turkey Makes Overtures to a Reluctant Turkmenistan

With Turkey and Russia now at odds, Central Asia's prevailing attitude toward Turkey has changed in recent months. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to visit Turkmenistan in October, but a terrorist attack in the Turkish capital led him to delay his trip. Since then, Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet near the Turkey-Syria border, and the resulting tension led to a series of trade spats between Moscow and Ankara. These circumstances will change the atmosphere Erdogan encounters when he visits Turkmenistan from Dec. 11 to Dec. 12. Turkey has its eye on Turkmenistan's energy resources, but the Turkish-Russian row is making Ashgabat even more wary of getting too close to Ankara....