Baku, Azerbaijan, July 29
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
The improvement of Turkish-Russian relations doesn’t mean that Ankara is seeking an alternative to NATO and the EU, the Milliyet newspaper quoted Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying July 29.
He pointed out that Turkey and Russia need to normalize the relations.
Earlier, some media outlets reported that by normalizing the relations with Russia, Turkey will suspend its relations with NATO and the EU as the time goes on.
Turkish presidential administration earlier told Trend that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will discuss a number of important economic and political issues during the meeting in St. Petersburg Aug.9.
Fighting the terrorist organizations in Syria is among the issues planned to be discussed during that meeting, said the presidential administration.
Moreover, the presidents are expected to discuss the joint energy projects of Russia and Turkey, such as the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and the construction of Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
“The parties will also discuss the ways of further developing the relations between Ankara and Moscow,” said Turkey’s presidential administration.
The relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorated after the Su-24 bomber incident in 2015.
On June 27, Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to Putin over the death of Russian Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident.
Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, commenting on the improvement of relations between Turkey and Russia, thanked Azerbaijan for its contribution to normalization of the relations.
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