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Bryza: Turkish president’s visit to Russia to be first step towards positive changes

Türkiye Materials 8 August 2016 19:50 (UTC +04:00)
Turkish president’s visit to Russia will be the first step towards full normalization of relations between the parties.
Bryza: Turkish president’s visit to Russia to be first step towards positive changes

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 8

By Anakhanum Idayatova – Trend:

Turkish president’s visit to Russia will be the first step towards full normalization of relations between the parties, Matthew Bryza, former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend Aug. 8.

Bryza said that in the current situation, when NATO, Europe and the US have not supported Turkey after the military coup attempt, Russia expressed support to Turkey.

On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed.

The diplomat that today Turkey is in a difficult situation, considering the unstable situation at its borders with Iraq and Syria, the weakened relations with Egypt, problems with Europe and the US.

Russia remains one of the few countries with which Turkey can become closer, he added.

He also noted that during the upcoming meeting, Russian and Turkish leaders will discuss a number of energy projects, including the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, issues of complete removal of sanctions on Turkey and other aspects of restoration of the bilateral ties.

Bryza said the relations between the two countries will be fully restored as soon as the parties agree on all major issues.

Erdogan’s visit will not bring global changes, noted the diplomat, adding that it is likely to become the first step towards positive changes.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia on Aug. 9 and will have a meeting with the country’s President Vladimir Putin.

Relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated when Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with two pilots on board. On June 27, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to Putin over the death of a Russian Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident. After the letter, the two countries’ relations began to improve.

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