The growing rift with the West, as well as fears over Syria and economic concerns, spurred Mr Erdogan to seek to restore relations with Moscow that were wrecked last November when Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian border.
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Erdogan said he hoped relations would become “more robust” and stressed how important it was that Putin offered his support after the coup.
“The Russian President was much quicker in his condemnation of the attempted coup than many of Turkey’s Western allies and they’ve [the Western allies] also expressed alarm at the extent of the post-coup crackdown”, said Al Jazeera’s Smith.
The meeting between Erdogan and Vladimir Putin comes just a month after a failed coup attempt in Turkey.
The leaders were expected to discuss the war in Syria in a subsequent closed-door session. “I think that yesterday’s meeting will start active rehabilitation of close bilateral cooperation in all spheres – economy, tourism, energy policy”, Turkish politician Nejat Kocer told Sputnik.
“There is no argument that Turkey should not remain a member”.
He said discussion about a change in direction had come “during times when the European Union failed to set up real and meaningful relations with Turkey”. The Russian and Turkish militaries will also work together.
“I want to again say that it’s our principled position that we are always categorically against any attempts at unconstitutional actions”, said Putin.
Speaking to press after the meeting, both leaders said they agreed on restoring and improving economic relations.
At the meeting, Putin said Russian Federation and Turkey would discuss ways of restoring trade and economic ties to combat terrorism.
Mr Putin added that he and Mr Erdogan will have a separate discussion on Syria later on Tuesday involving top military and intelligence officials to search for common ground in the crisis, where Moscow and Ankara have backed the opposing sides.
Russia imposed trade sanctions on Turkey in the wake of the shooting down of its jet and the number of Russian tourists visiting the country fell by 87 percent in the first half of 2016.
About the lingering Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Kalın said that a trilateral mechanism between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russian Federation was established, which he deemed an essential step in resolving the issue.
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Moskovskij Komsomolets wrote the “black days” between Russian Federation and Turkey had ended.
