Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Turkey for key talks that are set to focus on trade and energy. The two countries already do booming bilateral business, but the plan is to boost their mutual trade to $100 billion a yearEnergy ties will be dominatingRussianPresident Vladimir Putins landmark visit toTurkeytoday, as the two countries bid to increase the $32 billion annual bilateral trade to an ambitious $100 billion.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novaks remarks on the eve of Putins arrival today indicated thatRussiaremains the largest alternative for energy-hungryTurkeyas it seeks to replace the declining oil exports from Iran.
Russia would be willing to increase its gas supplies toTurkeythis winter ifAnkararequests it and an agreement is reached, Novak said before a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Taner Y?ld?z.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the TurkishBlack Seatown of Karasu near Istanbul, Novak saidRussiahad upped the winter gas flow toTurkeyin the past and that if needed and a joint agreement was reached, it is possible to do this again, Reuters reported yesterday.
A total of nine deals are expected to be signed during theRussianmissions visit to Turkey
Russia is Turkeys largest gas provider with two main pipelines: the Blue Stream that carries 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of fuel from underneath theBlack Seaand the 6 billion bcm capacity West Line that will be soon used by four private firms rather than by the Turkish state.
Russia is also building Turkeys very first nuclear plant in the southern province of Mersin. Novak said in a press meeting with Y?ld?z that Russia would like to be involved in the construction of other nuclear plants in Turkey. Y?ld?z said Turkeys priority was the second plant, for which Canada, China, Japan and South Korea are racing.
Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdo?ansaid after meeting with Putin in July in Moscow that the target in mutual trade was to reach $100 billion in trade.Russianauthorities also confirm such an assertive goal, which largely depends on Turkish energy imports.
Russian exports toTurkeyreached $21.8 billion in the first 10 months of this year, whileTurkeysold a little more than $5.5 billion worth of goods to its neighbor. As energy items stand for more than 70 percent ofRussianexports,Turkeymainly sells machinery, equipment and food products to Moscow. There are around 3,000 Turkish companies active in Russia, according to Moscow sources. Turkish companies have built more than 800 buildings in Russia, employing around 100,000 locals. Some 3.5 millionRussiantourists have visitedTurkeythis year.
No Syria tensions
Commenting on Putins visit on a televised interview on Dec. 1, Turkish Foreign MinisterAhmet Davuto?lusaid the two countries sometimes experienced splits in opinion, but that this should not define their relationship.
NeitherRussianorTurkeyhas ever developed a Cold War strategy over these splits, he said. No one should take serious a scenario thatTurkeyandRussiawill experience tension over Syria.
The two countries are working to overcome these differences, Davuto?lu said. At the point where we cannot overcome [these splits] we come to a point where Turkish-Russian relations are more important than all these fluctuations.
There is no conflict betweenTurkeyandRussiaregarding the Syria issue andRussiaalso realizes the fact that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is losing his grip on power, a senior Turkish official told theHrriyet Daily Newsin a recent interview.
They agree with us that the bloodshed should stop and that things need to change in Syria, but they do not see an alternative to the al-Assad regime yet, the official added.
Turkeys confiscation of cargo from a Moscow-Damascus passenger plane in October, on claims that it was carrying military goods to the Syrian army, increased the tension between the two countries over the issue.
However,RussianAmbassador toAnkaraVladimir Ivanovski told reporters Nov. 30 that both sides had decided not to escalate the problem and that they had closed the case.
Turkish andRussianleaders have realized 13 mutual meetings over the last decade. One of the most significant was then-President Dimitriy MedvedevsTurkeyvisit, when the two countries undersigned a strategic deal to found D?K, a council to frame all relations.
Putins meeting with Erdo?an, which was initially scheduled for last month before it was postponed, will also put an end to theRussianleaders break in travel since his visit to Tajikistan on Oct. 5.
By Hurriyet Daily News
The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.
