Erdogan and Putin Meeting Date Known

The Presidents of Turkey and Russia will hold a bilateral meeting at the summit of "twenty" leaders (G20), which will be held in China from 4 to 5 September, the Anadolu Agency reported.

According to Turkish officials, during today's telephone conversation between the two leaders, it was emphasized that the current situation does not meet the interests of both countries, and there is a need to resume the summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin after the telephone conversation with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed the Russian government to take steps towards the normalization of relations with Turkey.

According to the Kremlin press service, Russian President expressed deep condolences to Erdogan over the terrorist attack in the Istanbul airport, with numerous casualties. He expressed sympathy with the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those wounded. Both sides underlined the need to intensify international cooperation in the fight against terrorist threats common to all.

Vladimir Putin noted that the received message from the President of Turkey has created the prerequisites to turn the page in the bilateral relations and begin the process of resuming collaboration on international and regional issues, as well as on the development of the entire range of Russian-Turkish relations after the crisis. In this context, he expressed the hope that the beginning judicial investigation against the Turkish citizen accused of the death of the Russian pilot will be objective.

The Russian leader said that he instructed the government to enter into negotiations with the relevant Turkish authorities in order to restore the mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in trade, economic and other spheres. It was also noted that the restrictive measures regarding the visits of Russian tourists to Turkey will be removed. In this case it is desirable that the Turkish government should take extra steps to ensure the security of Russian citizens on the territory of Turkey.

It was agreed that the Foreign Ministers of both countries will meet on July 1 this year in Sochi at the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. At this meeting the situation in the region will be discussed with a focus on the Syrian settlement, as well as topical issues of further development of Russian-Turkish relations.

The Russian and Turkish Presidents agreed to study the possibility of near-term personal meeting.

In general the conversation had a businesslike and constructive character and was aimed at restoring the traditionally friendly nature of the multi-faceted bilateral cooperation. -0--