Eurasia Press & News
President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Astana, Kazakhstan, where both leaders attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.
Erdoğan invited Putin to Turkey, and Putin accepted the invitation during their meeting. The anticipated visit of the Russian president this spring was postponed. In televised statements, Putin said that Russia and Turkey are jointly carrying out strategic projects, while Erdoğan mentioned they would take significant steps, particularly in nuclear power plant projects.
Putin noted that Russian-Turkish relations are developing despite all challenges. “In the past few months, there has been a decline in trade volume, but our annual trade volume is $55 billion. Our projects are being implemented as planned. We will discuss our future goals (to improve relations). We are in close contact,” he said before the meeting was closed to the press.
For his part, Erdoğan remarked that it had been a long time since he last met his “esteemed friend” Putin. “We have been engaged in telephone diplomacy, but our associates are always in contact,” he said. Erdoğan mentioned that Turkey and Russia would take serious steps regarding nuclear power plants, with ongoing discussions about a new plant in Sinop, a Turkish province on the Black Sea.
“We believe we can take significant steps. Our Minister of Energy and Natural Resources is in talks with his Russian counterpart. BOTAŞ (the Turkish state pipeline operator) has sincere relations with Gazprom (from Russia). For now, our primary goal is to launch Akkuyu,” he said, referring to the power plant built by Russia’s Rosatom in southern Turkey.
Erdoğan stated that the current trade volume is small and their goal is to reach $100 billion. “We have the potential to achieve this,” he said. Erdoğan also praised the influx of tourists from Russia to Turkey, mentioning that around 7 million tourists visit his country annually.
“We attach importance to hosting Russian tourists in Turkey and are determined to increase their numbers as long as Russian tourists love Turkey,” he said.
“With these warm relations, I would like to host you in Turkey as soon as possible,” Erdoğan told Putin.
“I will definitely come,” Putin replied.
The Directorate of Communications of the Presidency stated in a press release after the meeting that Putin and Erdoğan discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as how to end the conflict in Syria and combat terrorism, alongside the state of bilateral relations.
“President Erdoğan told Putin that Turkey will continue to make efforts to promote peace in its region and the world. He said that Turkey can provide a basis for reconciliation between Russia and Ukraine to first end the conflict with a ceasefire, followed by a lasting peace,” the statement said.
Erdoğan also told Putin that “a just peaceful solution that will be acceptable to both sides is possible,” as stated in the press release.
Erdoğan and Putin also discussed Israeli attacks in Palestine and threats towards Lebanon. Erdoğan told the Russian leader that these attacks and threats target regional and global peace, adding that the escalation of conflict would be detrimental to regional countries and that the international community should take action to stop Israel.
Regarding Syria and the fight against terrorism, Erdoğan told Putin that Turkey is determined to prevent attempts to establish “terrorist enclaves” nearby and emphasized the importance of “concrete steps to end the instability that provides fertile ground for terrorism, particularly in Syria,” adding that Turkey is ready to cooperate on this issue.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Kremlin confirmed that Putin and Erdoğan would have an extended meeting on the sidelines of the summit. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the talks would cover Ukraine, Syria, and bilateral relations.
Turkey is among the few countries that have maintained good relations with both Russia and Ukraine during their conflict. It mediated the grain agreement amid the conflict and hosted the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. In Syria, the two sides differ, with Russia supporting the Assad regime while Turkey has long opposed the regime’s conflict with opposition forces. Nevertheless, both Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have recently signaled potential steps towards normalizing relations, which have been frozen since the onset of the civil war in 2011. Russia has previously mediated talks between the regime and Ankara, although they have not produced concrete results. Some media outlets even suggested that Erdoğan might meet Assad in Astana, although Syria and its regime leader were not officially invited to the summit. Peskov told journalists that Russia is satisfied with the peace process related to Syria and is making efforts in this regard.
“We will be pleased if the process achieves more with the contribution of neighboring countries,” Peskov said, referring to Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria.
The summit, attended by heads of state and government from 16 countries, will focus on regional security and cooperation in areas ranging from energy and health to education, transportation, economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation. The nine-member SCO, spanning a vast area from Moscow to Beijing, includes approximately half of the world’s population. Its permanent members, who are this year’s hosts, are Kazakhstan, India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran. Belarus is expected to join this year after being told at the 2023 SCO summit, held virtually in India, that it would become a member.
The summit will also focus on the ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has killed thousands of innocent Palestinians since the start of the latest conflict in October last year. More than 20 cooperation and other documents are expected to be concluded during the gathering.
Turkey has recently called for the establishment of a technical-level working group to work on a “mega network” within the SCO framework. The proposal, conveyed by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, was presented on the sidelines of the fourth SCO Energy Ministers’ meeting in Astana. Turkey is not a full member of the SCO but has been a dialogue partner of the organization since 2012.
“If the members approve, we would like to host the first technical meeting of this working group in Turkey either this autumn or in spring 2025,” Bayraktar said at the meeting. The minister also highlighted the potential among member countries for further advancing energy transition technologies and accessing more global markets through international cooperation.
“Our countries are blessed with abundant resources, including natural resources like oil, gas, minerals, and human resources, as well as institutions such as universities and research centers. Through collaborative efforts, we can more effectively harness these resources and ensure that their benefits are widely shared,” he said.
