Turkey and Russian Federation will establish a joint military, intelligence and diplomacy mechanism, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Wednesday.
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The Turkish leader also said he is ready to build a natural gas pipeline with Russian Federation and negotiate a deal to construct Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
Questioned about increased cooperation between the Turkish and Russian defense industries in the context of Turkey’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation role, Cavusoglu said Ankara had already established defense sector cooperation with non-NATO countries, including missile development.
Their meeting in St Petersburg came nearly nine months after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, prompting Russian sanctions.
Referring to the November 24 downing of a Russian warplane over the Turkey-Syria border by the Turkish Air Force, Cavusoglu explained that the Turkish pilots involved in the incident had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the coup bid.
He said both governments agreed on introducing a cease-fire, providing humanitarian aid and finding a political solution.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who could visit Turkey in late August according to Ankara, said just days after the coup attempt that Turkey must present “genuine evidence” and “not allegations” against Gulen for his extradition. We also do not approve of attacking the moderate opposition in Syria.
Turkey has pressed the United States hard to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric the government blames for the failed coup.
Erdogan’s visit to Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersburg is also his first foreign trip since the failed coup against him last month that sparked a purge of opponents and cast a shadow over Turkey’s relations with the West. “We don’t find the Aleppo siege to be appropriate”. Gulen has repeatedly denied any involvement. -Turkish ties, with some Turkish officials implying Washington could have been behind the coup. President Barack Obama’s administration has strongly denied that.
Now in the wake of the failed July 15 coup attempt, there are fears in Western capitals that NATO-member Turkey could draw even closer to Moscow with Erdogan bluntly making it clear he feels let down by the United States and the European Union.
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The shoot-down, which Putin called a “treacherous stab in the back”, brought relations to a freezing point where they remained for seven months until Erdogan apologized to Russian Federation in June.
