Turkish-Russian relations, which could be described as hostile during the 1990s, have steadily improved after March 2003 as a result of disappearance of divisive issues such as Chechnya and the Kurds, convergence of Russia's and Turkey's stance on Iran, Syria and other states in the Middle East and North Africa before the Arab Spring, as well as increasing trade and tourism between the two countries and energy deals. Russia and Turkey under the leadership of Putin and Erdoğan marked a golden era in bilateral relations between Ankara and Moscow.
The two leaders were even described as a
"band of brothers" due to the similarities in their leadership characteristics and their strategies based on priorities that placed a high premium on stability in their neighborhood before the Arab Spring owing to their overlapping interests and interdependence. Both leaders are also similar in successfully addressing the dreams of their people of past glories attained at the days of Ottoman and Russian empires.
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