Russia imposed trade sanctions on Turkey after the shooting down of its jet and the number of Russian tourists visiting the country fell by 87 per cent in the first half of 2016.
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Gulen strongly denies Ankara´s accusations and his lawyer last Friday said Turkey had failed to provide “a scintilla” of proof to support its claim.
More than 60,000 people were detained, fired or placed under investigation following the coup attempt. “I believe that a new page will be opened [during]. the negotiations with my friend Vladimir [Putin]”, President Erdogan told TASS news agency in an exclusive interview ahead of the visit, adding that “there is yet much for our countries to do together”. The talks that are expected to mark a thaw in the 8-month freeze in bilateral relations following the downing of a Russian jet by the Turkish Air Force.
Facing the risk of rising anti-American sentiment in Turkey after a dispute over Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) leader Fetullah Gülen’s extradition, the USA does not want to lose Turkey to Russian Federation.
Erdogan, in his opening remarks, thanked Putin twice for inviting him to Russian Federation and said cooperation between the two countries should benefit the entire region.
Meanwhile, the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition welcomed the meeting between Turkish and Russian presidents.
“Turkey who shares a large border (with Syria) can cooperate with Russian Federation and we can take a step without disrupting Syria’s territorial integrity”.
Putin told Erdogan that he hoped Ankara could fully restore order after a failed military coup last month, saying Moscow always opposed unconstitutional actions. “He wants to build a new framework of relations based on Syria with Russian Federation as well”.
“Instead of showing empathy, Western leaders had the opposite reaction”.
Asked about the agreement between Turkey and the European Union to stem the flow of migrants, Erdogan accused the bloc of not keeping its promises. “So this is why [Erdogan] has probably shifted to Russian Federation to get much more support from Putin”. The United Nations has allocated about 500 million US dollars.
The talks will most likely focus on rekindling trade and investment as well as reinstating travel and tourism ties.
“The European Union is not behaving in a honest manner with Turkey”, Erdogan stressed, emphasising that the visa waiver for Turkish citizens was supposed to kick in on June 1.
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However, the reciprocal visa-free access has been delayed due to a dispute over Turkish anti-terrorism legislation and concern in the West about the scale of Ankara’s crackdown following a failed coup.
