Baku, Azerbaijan, June 2
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkey will strengthen relations with Russia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Turkish media reported on June 2.
"There are some forces who really want to deteriorate the relations between Ankara and Moscow, and one of those forces is the FETO terrorist movement," according to him.
"Despite all difficulties that were between Turkey and Russia, Ankara and Moscow were able to eliminate all the problems," Erdogan said.
The head of state further noted that Turkey and Russia need each other from the strategic point of view.
Erdogan also thanked Russia for providing a loan to purchase Russian missile systems S-400.
Russian and Turkish sides signed a loan agreement for the supply of anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 in Ankara in December 2017. Turkey will pay for a part of this deal on its own, and the other part will be paid for through the Russian Federation's defense loan.
The Secretariat of the Turkish Defense Industry said in its statement that Ankara will acquire two batteries of the Russian S-400 systems, which will be serviced by Turkish personnel. The parties agreed on technological cooperation in this field for the development of the production of anti-aircraft missile systems in Turkey.
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