Relations between the two countries worsened drastically after Ankara shot down a Russian jet, which was on anti-terrorism mission in Syria.
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“Your visit today, which you made despite the really complex domestic political situation in Turkey, shows we all want to restart our dialogue and restore our relations”, said Putin, addressing Erdogan. After the failed coup attempt in Turkey, Vladimir Putin expressed support for the Turkish leader and condemned the unlawful actions of the military.
President Erdogan travels to Russia to meet with President Putin for the first time since apologising in late June for the downing of a Russian fighter jet along the Syrian border in November past year. “I hope the plans will be ratified after deliberations”, Putin said.
Energy cooperation, and in particular the Turkish Stream pipeline project, and the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project in Turkey are other topics of critical importance expected to be discussed at the meeting.
Putin added that he and Erdogan will have a separate discussion on Syria later Tuesday involving top military and intelligence officials to search for common ground in the crisis, where Moscow and Ankara have backed the opposing sides.
Regarding the long-awaited missile defense system, Cavusoglu said that Turkey first sought cooperation with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries; however, so far the results were unsatisfactory.
“Erdogan’s rapprochement with Russia, of course, is a strong signal to the West”, the head of the Turkish-Russian Research Center, Aydin Sezer, told Sputnik.
Putin also announced a mid-term cooperation program that spans the year 2016 to 2019, and also intergovernmental commissions of the two countries would resume contacts.
Turkey is building a “strong mechanism” with Russian Federation to try to find a solution in Syria and a delegation including foreign ministry, military and intelligence officials will go to Russian Federation on Wednesday for talks, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
“I believe that we have all the necessary prerequisites and opportunities for fully restoring the relations between our two countries which would help strengthen both regional and global stability”, Putin added.
“It is good that after the shooting down of the Russian fighter jet by Turkey past year, there is a rapprochement”, he said.
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“Russia and Turkey are important strategic partners for Kazakhstan”.
