I think, knowing him, he's on his own side the way Putin is on Putin's side. But yeah. This....might as well happen.

I could see Turkey being eager to feel important, especially when they owe a chunk of their economy to Russia, but since when are any of them planning or even physically capable of saving face?

Turkey hates Russia. So this isn’t surprising.

The Russo-Turkish wars lasted a combined nearly 400 years and after WWII when Stalin tried to claim a bunch of Turkish lands the relations were at the lowest ever. Russia and the Soviets prior have a loooong history of t ray isn’t to conquer Turkey.