The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan simply claimed he and Vladimir Putin are the “solely” two leaders left on this planet.

Talking after Syrian rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad, who had dominated Turkey’s neighbour since 2000, Erdogan heaped reward on Russia’s authoritarian chief.

He stated: “Now, there are solely two leaders on this planet. They’re myself and Vladimir Putin.

“I’m not saying this as a result of one in every of them is me. However I’ve been in workplace for 22 years, practically so long as Mr Putin. The remainder are gone.”

Putin has been in energy for the very best a part of 25 years and infrequently accused of rigging elections to remain in energy.

Turkey is seen as a flawed democracy the place elections are nonetheless credible, however there are few checks and balances on its authorities.

It’s price noting there are 195 governments within the world – so Putin and Erdogan are removed from the one leaders left.

In line with the Russian state information company TASS, Erdogan additionally defined how vital it was to stay near Russia.

He stated: “We would like our dialogue to proceed. You will need to proceed politics.

“As an illustration, politics resulted in Germany when Angela Merkel resigned.”

Merkel served because the chancellor in Germany from 2005 till 2021 when she stepped down.

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

In the meantime, the Turkish president has carried out a number of incursions into Syria over the past eight years in a bid to create a buffer zone on the border.

Erdogan has additionally been accused of aiding the Syrian rebels though Turkish officers have rejected such claims.

Turkey and Russia have additionally emphasised their shut connection previously, with Erdogan as soon as describing Putin as a “pricey good friend”.

The Turkish president informed CNN final Might: “Russia and Turkey want one another in each discipline doable.

“The West will not be main a really balanced strategy – you want a balanced strategy towards a rustic akin to Russia.

“We’re not at some extent the place we’d impose sanctions on Russia just like the West has finished.”