Turkey's Erdogan meets Russian leaders for energy talks

The Turkish prime minister said on Wednesday that there were many projects Turkey and Russia could fulfil.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey-Russia relations had reached the peak in recent years.

"There are many projects Turkey and Russia can fulfil together as two important actors in the world," Erdogan said during his meeting with Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev in Moscow.

Erdogan said two countries were cooperating in all areas, particularly politics, culture and economy, and expressed pleasure with the common will of two countries to boost their relations.

The Turkish prime minister underlined importance of cooperating in not only natural gas but also oil and oil products.

Also, Medvedev said two countries had ambitious goals, and Turkey-Russia relations were improving, which was in line with the definition of strategic partnership.

Medvedev said there were giant energy projects between Turkey and Russia, and hoped two countries would take further steps in energy during Erdogan's visit.

The Russian president underlined importance of improvement of Turkey-Russia relations for settlement of many complicated and regional problems.

Medvedev said the similarity of the perspectives of the two countries on various matters had a determining role in the region.

Erdogan wants to finalise an agreement with Russia to start building an oil pipeline between Samsun and Mediterranean coast during a visit to Moscow, Turkish media said.

Russia will "actively" participate in the construction of the Turkish-Italian Samsun-Ceyhan gas pipeline, Interfax reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin.

Asked on the sidelines of a meeting between Erdogan and Medvedev how Russia would participate in construction of the Bosporus bypass pipeline, Sechin said the question is being discussed right now, the agency said.

Erdogan said he believed that Turkey and Russia would reach 100 billion U.S. dollars of bilateral trade volume within next four years.

Erdogan, who is visiting Moscow, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had a meeting and chaired meetings between delegations of the two countries.

The bilateral relations between Turkey and Russia have boosted in the past seven years; and military, economic, political and cultural relations have been advancing well, he said.

In his part, Russian Prime Minister Putin said global economic crisis made a negative impact on Turkish-Russian relations.

Trade volume became 35 billion U.S. dollars the previous year, but the figure dropped by 40 percent in the recent period, Putin said.

Turkey is still one of the important trade partners of Russia and there is a significant cooperation in the area of energy, he said.

Earlier, Erdogan said that he would propose Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to remove visa proceedings between Turkey and Russia during their scheduled meeting on Wednesday.

Later, delivering a speech at a conference on "Turkey's Foreign Policy" in Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Erdogan said the Turkish government built its foreign policy on "winning and making friends".

Erdogan said the Turkish government's initial step with this objective was settlement of peace with all countries, indicating that the target had been achieved.

"Turkey lives in peace with all of the countries in the region. The steps that have been taken on areas of politics, military, economy, trade and culture are all obvious expressions of it. Turkey is a country where constitutional and legal amendments were rapidly made to human rights, freedoms, democracy, law and rule of law. Turkey is also a pioneering force of a civilization project where prosperity and permanent stability prevail. Turkey has fulfilled it with the steps taken on Alliance of Civilizations," Erdogan said.

He said, "Turkey has a young and well-educated population, dynamic economy, entrepreneurial people, democracy tradition and all these lay different responsibilities on us in the upcoming period."

Erdogan expressed determination of the Turkish government to resolve all the problems with its neighbors, "we assume an affirmative stance towards solution of such problems," he added.

"What Turkey has done with Cyprus question or Armenian issue is that Turkey has always been coherent on the matters in question and it has been the party favoring solution," he said.

/World Bulletin/