Russia and Turkey have completely normalized their relations after the serious diplomatic crisis that aggravated them, the leaders of the two countries said today with satisfaction, while announcing the strengthening of their cooperation.
With this meeting in Moscow, "we have completed the normalization process. "We no longer want to use that word," said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a news conference with the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin.
"We are determined to further improve the special and necessary relations between the two countries," he added, adding that he expects Russia to "fully lift" its sanctions against Ankara.
Turkish-Russian relations deteriorated several months ago after a serious diplomatic crisis in November 2015, when the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian aircraft flying over the Syrian-Turkish border.
Russia, which has called the move a "backlash", has imposed economic sanctions on Turkey in retaliation.
However, in the summer of 2016, Putin and Erdogan showed a willingness to drop the tone of the confrontation. For his part, the Russian president ordered the lifting of most of the sanctions against Ankara, especially in the field of tourism.
"We can see that our relations have returned to the level of a real partnership, with a multifaceted cooperation," Putin said.
"We consider Turkey our most important partner," the Russian head of state assured.
During the meeting, which lasted several hours, the two presidents signed a plan for cooperation until 2020 in order to boost trade, and the Turkish head of state considered that it is possible that the amount of these negotiations could reach $ 100 billion in the future. .
Russia and Turkey have also agreed to "continue active co-operation in the fight against terrorist organizations, primarily Islamic State" in Syria, especially among the intelligence services, Putin said.
Source: newsbeast.gr