Eurasia Press & News
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a two-day official visit to St. Petersburg starting today to attend a Turkish-Russian High-Level Cooperation Council with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the ongoing crisis in Syria will likely be the main item on his agenda.
Ankara and Moscow have adopted opposing stances over the Syrian crisis since the uprising erupted in 2011 before agreeing to disagree on Syria even while opting to move forward on improving bilateral ties.
Turkey backs the Syrian opposition, while Russia supports the Syrian government both in political and military terms.
The visit also comes as the international community pushes for the realization of a long-delayed Geneva II meeting, a U.S.-Russia-led peace conference which aims to bring together the Syrian government and opposition.
Turkey will urge Russian officials to also focus on the humanitarian aspect of the Syrian crisis, according to Turkish officials. Erdoğan said earlier this month that Turkey supported the conference on Syria but blamed Russia for the failure this week to agree on a date for the talks.
