Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (R) ahead of a meeting at The Kremlin in Moscow on April 8, 2019. (AFP Photo)
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Moscow on Monday for his third meeting this year with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the opening ceremony of the Turkey-Russia cross-cultural year.
“We are pleased to welcome you to Moscow and today we will open and hold the eighth meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council,” Putin said at the beginning of the meeting on Monday.
“We will discuss our bilateral relations with the representatives of public society and meet with representatives of the business community,” Putin added.
In the evening, the two leaders will attend an event to be held in the context of the cross-year of culture and tourism, he added.
“We observe and note a good level of development of our relations, the trade turnover grew by 15%, the general volume of trade has reached $25 billion,” Putin said.
Erdoğan agreed with his Russian counterpart, saying they aim to further boost this to around $100 billion.
“We are implementing major projects including Akkuyu, a nuclear power plant, that we should launch by 2023 in accordance with the wishes of the Turkish side, and the TurkStream, an offshore section of which was recently completed,” Putin said.
He went on saying that the two countries have significant cooperation in international relations, between the foreign and defense ministries as well as in the domain of armament.
Erdoğan noted that the two countries continue to cooperate against the threat of terrorism, especially in Syria.
Speaking at a news conference ahead of his departure from Istanbul for Moscow, Erdoğan said, “Our cooperation with Russia continues increasing and becomes stronger (day by day).”
Turkish Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter Monday that Turkey and Russia’s “mutual commitment to working together and goodwill” supports bilateral relations and regional cooperation in all areas from security to the economy.
Altun also stressed that Ankara and Moscow are taking all measures to ensure Syria’s territorial integrity and fight against terrorism.
“We urge all nations, which support terrorist groups that threaten our and Syria’s territorial integrity, to reverse their course and to contribute to the ongoing process,” he wrote.
“Our approach to our defense cooperation with Russia covers a broad range of issues including the reciprocal purchase of military equipment and joint production. The defense industry represents, and will continue to represent, an important part of our bilateral relations,” Altun concluded.
The High-Level Cooperation Council meetings between Turkey and Russia have been held annually since 2010.
