Western capitals are increasingly alarmed at the deepening ties between Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Vladimir Putin, raising the prospect of punitive retaliation against the Nato member if it helps Russia avoid sanctions.
Six western officials told the Financial Times they were concerned about the pledge made by Turkish and Russian leaders to expand co-operation on trade and energy after the two had four-hour meeting in Sochi on Friday.
One EU official said the 27-member bloc was monitoring Turkish-Russian relations “more and more closely”. A senior western official also suggested countries could call on their companies and banks to pull out of Turkey if Erdoğan follows through with the intentions he outlined on Friday — a highly unusual threat against a fellow Nato member state that could severely damage its already fragile $800bn economy.
