Russia and Turkey took a big step toward normalising ties yesterday when Russian President Vladimir Putin met his visiting Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, at a time when both countries have strained relations with the West.
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Putin said Tuesday that charter flights to Turkey could resume “in the near future”, but added that “painstaking work is ahead to revive trade and economic cooperation”.
Vladimir Putin reminded that over the course of two last decades, the Turkish construction companies had implemented in Russian Federation more than 1,500 projects worth $55bln.
After the failed coup attempt in Turkey, Vladimir Putin expressed support for the Turkish leader and condemned the unlawful actions of the military.
Turkey downing a Russian jet that had allegedly strayed into Turkish territory last November only added to tensions.
Russian Federation and Turkey took a big step toward normalizing relations on Tuesday, with their leaders announcing increased trade and energy ties at a time when both countries have troubled economies and strained relations with the West.
Although he believes that the thaw in Moscow-Ankara relations won’t significantly affect Turkey’s policy toward the U.S. and the European Union, he is confident that Ankara will change its strategy in the Syrian crisis.
He also said that Turkey was building a “strong mechanism” with Russian Federation to find a solution in Syria, and a delegation including the foreign ministry, military and intelligence officials will go to Russian Federation on Wednesday for talks.
Syria is expected to be high on the agenda during the visit. Though turkey wants Bashar to put down his reign.
“Currently Turkey can not enter Syria, it can not do anything in Syria because the Russian forces are there”, Erhan Ersan, a Russian affairs specialist at Istanbul’s Marmara University, told Al Jazeera. If you hear the messages coming from President Erdogan he’s actually open to that.
Russian Federation also wants to guarantee its investment on the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which has been stalled since the crisis erupted between Ankara and Moscow, Baslamis said.
The head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition welcomed the meeting.
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Turkey and Russian Federation have similar views on the need for a ceasefire in Syria, the provision of humanitarian aid, and a political solution to end the crisis, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state-run Anadolu agency on Wednesday.
