TURKISH RESET: Turkey’s president heads to Russia amid improving ties.

Tuesday’s visit to St. Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be Erdogan’s first foreign trip since the abortive July 15 putsch, in which a group of renegade Turkish military officers attempted to seize power using fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in a night of violence that left more than 270 people dead.

Both Turkey and Russia, which once described themselves as strategic partners, have been hurt by their roughly seven-month rupture in relations: Russia’s ban on the sale of package tours to Turkey and an agricultural import embargo dealt a painful blow to the Mediterranean country, while Moscow also paid a price as the spat shelved a much-touted Russian natural gas pipeline to Turkey and other lucrative projects.

So both Erdogan and Putin are interested in mending the rift and reviving economic and trade ties, a process that began in June following Ankara’s apology for shooting down the Russian plane, which had been running bombing sorties in neighboring Syria.

I’m still paranoid enough to wonder if Putin’s fingerprints aren’t somewhere on the failed “coup,” or that perhaps Moscow has been useful in providing intel and advice for Erdogan’s successful post-coup purge.