Turkish President Erdogan Says He And Putin Are ‘Only’ Two Leaders Left In The World

The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan just claimed he and Vladimir Putin are the “only” two leaders left in the world.

Speaking after Syrian rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad, who had ruled Turkey’s neighbour since 2000, Erdogan heaped praise on Russia’s authoritarian leader.

He said: “Now, there are only two leaders in the world. They are myself and Vladimir Putin.

“I am not saying this because one of them is me. But I have been in office for 22 years, nearly as long as Mr Putin. The rest are gone.”

Putin has been in power for the best part of 25 years and often accused of rigging elections to stay in power.

Turkey is seen as a flawed democracy where elections are still credible, but there are few checks and balances on its government.

It’s worth noting there are 195 governments in the world – so Putin and Erdogan are far from the only leaders left.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Erdogan also explained how important it was to remain close to Russia.

He said: “We want our dialogue to continue. It is important to continue politics.

“For instance, politics ended in Germany when Angela Merkel resigned.”

Merkel served as the chancellor in Germany from 2005 until 2021 when she stepped down.

Bizarrely, Erdogan’s comments come at a time when Putin is providing asylum to Assad in Russia after Moscow propped up his regime for years.

Meanwhile, the Turkish president has conducted several incursions into Syria over the last eight years in a bid to create a buffer zone on the border.

Erdogan has also been accused of aiding the Syrian rebels although Turkish officials have rejected such claims.

Turkey and Russia have also emphasised their close connection in the past, with Erdogan once describing Putin as a “dear friend”.

The Turkish president told CNN last May: “Russia and Turkey need each other in every field possible.

“The West is not leading a very balanced approach – you need a balanced approach toward a country such as Russia.

“We are not at a point where we would impose sanctions on Russia like the West has done.”