Turkish PM: Ankara, Moscow to mull a number of important issues
By Gunay Hasanova
The first meeting between Turkey and Russia after the recent tension in the relations due to downed plane incident is in the center of international agenda with many important topics of discussions.
Ankara and Moscow will discuss a number of important issues during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Russia, said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on August 9, TRT Haber News channel reported.
Yildirim said the parties will also discuss the settlement of the Syrian crisis.
Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has so far claimed over 500,000 lives.
Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The "Islamic State" and Jabhat al-Nusra are the most active terrorist groups in Syria.
Moreover, two countries will discuss different aspects of energy cooperation between Russia and Turkey.
During the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Moscow and Ankara will discuss the possibility of discount on the supplied Russian gas, said the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, adding that this issue is on the agenda for a long time.
The ministry also noted that apart from the issue of gas prices the sides will discuss major energy projects such as the construction of gas pipeline Turkish Stream and NPP Akkuyu.
Earlier, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey told that Ankara could unfreeze the project of Russian gas pipeline Turkish Stream, adding that currently this issue is under consideration, whilst the exact timing of defrosting the project still remains unknown.
The meeting of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is being held today St. Petersburg.
This is Erdogan’s first visit to Russia after the crisis in the two countries’ relations and is the first visit after the attempted military coup in Turkey.
Turkish delegation includes Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, Minister of Culture and Tourism Nabi Avci, Minister of Transport, Shipping and Communications Ahmet Arslan and Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek.
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