Putin meets Erdogan behind Dolmabahçe Palace’s closed doors

Mr. Putin joined Recep Erdogan for a protocol photo shoot at the premier’s residence straight after arriving in the Turkish capital earlier today. Afterwards, photographers were asked to leave and the meeting continued behind the closed doors of Dolmabahçe Palace.

A session of Turkish-Russian High Level Cooperation Council is slated to take place in the palace after the meeting.

Dolmabahçe Palace is located on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Since 2007, it has been the official residence of Turkish prime ministers.

Putin to discuss NATO Patriot air defense system in Turkey - Peskov

The deployment of NATO Patriot complexes in Turkey "is a concern to Russia and does not contribute to the stabilization of the already fragile situation" in the region, the President's Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in Istanbul on Monday.

He noted that this issue will be addressed in today's talks. Peskov will accompany President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Istanbul. Shortly after his arrival in Turkey, Putin began closed-door talks with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.

Turkey to get Patriot batteries

After exploring the terrain, NATO and Turkish officers have chosen sites for deploying three Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries in southeastern Turkey.

They wil unveil their conclusions at a session of NATO Foreign to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Turkey asked NATO to deploy as many as 6 Patriot batteries.

Putin arrives in Istanbul for talks with PM Erdogan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Istanbul for the third meeting of Russia-Turkey Cooperation Council.

Mr. Putin and Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan are expected to hold both private and open talks, the outcome of which they will then report to journalists.

“The talks will focus on the details of bilateral cooperation, its status quo and outlook,” Putin’s aid Yuri Ushakov said.

Putin due to visit Istanbul Monday for talks with PM Erdogan

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit Istanbul this Monday for talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on promoting bilateral relations and a settlement in Syria.

The issues will be taken up as part of a summit meeting of the Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council, said the Russian President’s aide Yuri Ushakov.

The parties to the talks will specifically focus on major joint trade and investment projects, high-tech cooperation, as well as cooperation in the field of production, research and technology, and in cultural and humanitarian ties.

Russia is Turkey’s second most important trade partner, with Germany being the first, while Turkey ranks seventh on the Russian foreign trade market.

Voice of Russia, TASS, RIA

Putin to visit Turkey: Overview of recent Russia-Turkey relations

Andrey Fedyashin

On December 3, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is to come to Turkey for a working visit. In Ankara he is to meet President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and to take part in the third meeting of the Turkey - Russia High Level Cooperation Council.

Turkey is now claiming the role of the leading player on the Middle East and even the leader of the Muslim world. Energy component is the core of the Russian Turkish relations. We hear from Sergey Demidenko, expert on the Middle East at the Institute of the Strategic Studies.

"Currently, the relations between our countries are developing relatively smoothly. Naturally the most important aspects are economy and energy cooperation. Turkey is interested in additional energy sources and in this respect our relations are developing quite positively."

Meanwhile the political climate on the eve the Russian president visit is not very good. The crisis in Syria and the plans of the US to deploy its Patriot air-have tarnished the bilateral political relations between Russia and Turkey. Erdogan is one of the most convinced supporters of military intervention in Syrian crisis and is on the side of Bashar Assad’s opponents. On the contrary Kremlin is against the Syrian opposition. In mid-October, the Syrian plane which was flying from Moscow to Damascus was forced to land in Turkey. The Turkish authorities arrested the Russian cargo on board of the plane claiming that it was intended for military purposes. Despite the forecasts that incident did not stir a serious conflict between the neighbors. Moscow and Ankara learned how separate politics and economy in their strategic relations. They understand that Syria is not an alternative to the firm Turkish-Russian business and trade relations.

During their last meeting in Moscow last summer Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the course towards the strategic partnership, Russian political analyst Stanislav Tarasov says.

"Then both parties stressed the strategic nature of their relations. They noted that trade turnover between the countries had grown up to $35 billion a year and voiced the intention to increase it up to $100 billion-150 billion a year. That is why during the meeting in Istanbul the main stress will be laid of energy issues and trade and economic interaction. It was with the assistance of Turkey that the negotiations on the construction of the South Stream pipeline were completed."

The difficult issues such as Syria, Iraq and the situation of the Middle East in general will also be touched upon during the coming talks. But neither Ankara nor Moscow let their disagreements on foreign policy negatively affect their strong economic and oil and gas friendship. Naturally, Russia cannot ignore Turkey’s position on the situation in the region, president of the Russian Institute of Energy and Finances Vladimir Feigin says.

"It is important not only considering our energy cooperation. Politically, this is a very problematic region. There are problems in relations between Turkey and Syria. These countries are not far our borders. That is why I am confident that alongside energy cooperation Putin and Erdogan y will touch upon the regional security issues. Turkey is a rapidly developing country. It is the country with big ambitions, which is becoming more and more important player in the region."

Russia and Turkey are planning very serious energy projects. In particular Vladimir Putin will discuss with his Turkish counterpart the construction of a nuclear power plant in Turley. All the Russian-Turkish energy projects are long-term ones and both countries understand that they can implement them only if there is stability in the region.

On the eve of Putin’s visit to Turkey GAZ Group, a part of Russia's biggest business group Basic Element, and Turkey’s Mersa Otomotive announced plans to set up assembly of GAZelle BUSINESS light commercial vehicles in Turkey.