Yerevan /Mediamax/. Political scientist and program director of the Valdai Club Timofey Bordachev believes that “Turkey along with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has become part of the Russian security perimeter.”

“This is actually a very important event that has happened over the past year,” he said in the interview with the “Moskovsky Komsomolets” newspaper.

“As Vladimir Putin said, Turkey is a very reliable and comfortable partner for Russia. The main reason for this comfort is that Russia can, in case of emergency, use military force against Turkey without risking turning the conflict into a global one,” Bordachev said.

According to him, “Russia is not going to seize Turkey, change the political regime there and make Turkey a satellite.”

“Turkey is in an extremely difficult internal political situation. This is a country that has stood for forty years in the hallway of the European Union and has been ultimately denied entry. Turkey is a country which, under President Erdogan, is trying to choose its own path in international affairs. This choice of the path requires from Turkey at its small level the same thing that 15–20 years ago was required of Russia: a conflict with the West. Erdogan is now following the same path. Only he has less - less money, a smaller army. Nevertheless, he wants to be independent. The more he wants to be independent, the more irritation it causes in the West. With the understanding that Russia is not going to conquer Turkey, Erdogan becomes the periphery not of the West, but of Russia. This is actually a very important event that has happened over the past year: Turkey along with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has become part of the Russian security perimeter,” Timofey Bordachev said.

According to the political scientist, “strengthening of Turkey in the Caucasus can threaten Russian security only if the United States regains control over Turkish foreign and defense policy.”

“Now this control is at its weakest in modern history. If Turkey is again forced to become a U.S. satellite, as it was during the Cold War, it will threaten Russian interests. Turkey itself cannot threaten Russian interests anywhere as long as Russia is a strong and confident state, ”he concluded.