President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is traveling to 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.
Erdoğan’s visit is expected to focus on regional cooperation between the two countries, as well as Turkey’s planned counterterror operation in Syria.
“Our cooperation with Russia continues increasing and becomes stronger (day by day),” Erdoğan told reporters ahead of his departure from Istanbul for Moscow.
Erdoğan said bilateral, regional and global issues, including developments in Syria and visa-free travel, are on the agenda.
The Turkish president will attend the eighth High-Level Cooperation Council meeting between two countries. The meeting is being held annually since 2010.
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.
Courtesy: Daily Sabah
