“If the West one day loses Turkey – whatever our relations with Russian Federation and China – it will be their fault”, he said.
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Speaking after the talks with Putin, Erdogan reaffirmed his claim that Gulen was behind the coup but didn’t touch on Ankara’s demand for his extradition.
Putin, in turn, said the flow of Russian tourists to Turkey, halted after the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey in November, will resume soon. In Moscow, he also implied that Gulenists in the military may have been responsible for the downing of the Russian jet a year ago, telling a Turkish-Russian business council that they had “clearly taken aim at ties between our countries”, although he stopped short of blaming them outright. “We have to work hard to reanimate trade and economic relations”.
Turkey has formally arrested 16,000 people in connection to the failed coup.
Putin said Moscow would gradually phase out sanctions against Ankara, imposed after the Turks shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border nine months ago, and that bringing ties to their pre-crisis level was the priority.
The meeting between the two leaders on Tuesday confirmed that Turkey and Russian Federation are moving swiftly to restore their strategic economic partnership.
While Erdogan was in Moscow, Ankara announced that a key agreement with the European Union to disrupt the refugee flow from Syria would be come to an end if Brussels did not provide a deadline of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to Europe.
Turkey hosts American troops and warplanes at its Incirlik Air Base, an important staging area for the US-led fight against Islamic State militants in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
Erdogan said one of the main targets was to increase the current size of trade between the two countries from $27-28 billion up to $100 billion in near future.
Erdogan hailed the start of “a very different period” in relations between Turkey and Russian Federation, historic foes which have nevertheless built strong trade, energy and tourism ties in the post-Soviet era.
According to the spokesperson, Turkey can count on solidarity and support of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the first line of TurkStream to supply Turkey could be built as early as 2019 but that solid European guarantees were needed before a second line from Russia to the EU across Turkey could be built.
He has accused Erdogan of using the coup to amass greater power, echoing concerns expressed in some Western capitals.
“That religious, impudent, lying, bloody murdering nothing will be surely held accountable”. Tens of thousands of people with suspected links to Gulen have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government.
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Another 7,668 people are under investigation but have not been detained, he said.
