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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian Leader Vladimir Putin, coming together for the first time following a 9-month tension, have organized a joint press statement in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Both leaders conveyed messages suggesting that ties are improving and spoke about the energy deals.
Putin: It has been a constructive meeting
Putin took the floor first during the statement in Constantine Palace and spoke as follows:
“I especially want to say that we have held a constructive meeting. We’ve tackled regional and bilateral issues.
“The priority of Turkey and Russia is to return the relations back to the pre-crisis period.
“We will remove the sanctions against Turkey step by step.
“We are going to revive the cooperation mechanisms. We are planning to actualize our program by removing the restrictions on Turkish companies and developing our bilateral relations.
“Energy projects constitute the key point in commercial cooperation. We need to take concrete steps to realize these energy projects.
“Turkey is doing its part in Turkish Stream constructions and nuclear energy and will continue to do so.
“We also discussed Russian tourists visiting Turkey. Time is required for it to get back to normal. We’ve received Turkey’s promise for the safety of Russian tourists in Turkey.
“We tackled regional matters as well. The situation in Syria is significant for both countries. We will continue to discuss this matter”.
Erdoğan: We will discuss Syria later
“I thank Putin for his hospitality. We’ve held comprehensive and fruitful talks with Putin. Both sides are determined to return the relations to their prior level.
“It was our first face to face meeting after the known incident [Turkey’s shooting down the Russian jet]. At the same time, it is my first visit abroad after the July 15 coup attempt.
“We will take steps gradually and collectively in realizing Charter flights again, lifting the restrictions on agricultural products and visa waivers”.
Erdoğan also, in response to journalists’ questions about whether the Syrian issue was discussed, said, “We will tackle this subject with Putin later face to face”.
First meeting in 9 months
Erdoğan and Putin had last met on November 15 as part of the G20 Summit organized in Antalya. Turkey shot down a Russian jet close to the Turkey-Syria border on November 24, 2015 and one pilot lost his life. The ties worsened for nine months following the incident.
President Erdoğan, in his letter to Putin in June, apologized for the incident of shooting down the jet.
Erdoğan expressed that Putin called him to express his support two days after the July 15 coup attempt. (AS/TK)
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