Putin, Erdogan to discuss Karabakh talks
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, The Hurriyet Daily News reported.
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.
The Nagorno-Karabakh talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which recently resumed, are likely to be discussed at the meetings, as Turkey has urged both parties to make progress so that normalization between Ankara and Yerevan can be pursued in parallel.
Erdoğan is expected to have a tête-à-tête with Putin. He will be accompanied by ministers including Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız, Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım.
Turkey’s first planned 4,800 megawatt (MW) Mersin-Akkuyu nuclear power plant to be built by Russia’s Rosatom will also be reviewed during the meetings.