Ahead of the G20 summit in China, the two leaders held a two-hour closed meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in the coastal Chinese city of Hangzhou – their first since ties between Moscow and Ankara entered a new phase following an August 9 meeting in St. Petersburg.
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Turkey and Russia normalised ties in June after Mr Erdogan sent a letter to Mr Putin expressing regret over the shooting down of a Russian war plane on the Syrian border last November which had caused an unprecedented crisis in their relations.
Xi said the two countries should cooperate more closely on worldwide and regional issues, as well as resolutely safeguard the principles of the UN Charter, the basic norms of global relations, and worldwide equity and justice to promote peace, stability and prosperity.
Ankara accuses US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of ordering the July 15 coup in Turkey, during which a group within the military tried to remove Erdogan from power.
Turkey says the mastermind behind the attempted overthrow was US -based Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, and it has demanded his extradition.
Mr Putin added: “I am sure that. we can go forward on our path of cooperation” once the situation in Turkey is “completely normalised”.
Several other high ranking Turkish officials were also present at the meeting including Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak and head of the National Intelligence Organisation Hakan Fidan.
Erdogan is also scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama in Hangzhou at 4:45am GMT on Sunday morning.
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The 11th G20 summit, attended by the leaders of the world’s 20 most industrialized countries, will be held in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province September 4-5.
