Turkey and Russia signed the strategic Turkish Stream gas pipeline agreement on 10th October. The pipeline will carry Russian natural gas to Turkey and on to Europe under the Black Sea.
During the signing ceremony with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that ministers and experts will continue to hold bilateral talks after the deal, adding that they will also hold talks focusing on economy, politics, defence, tourism and culture.
Erdogan also said that they had agreed to speed up the process to build the Akkuyu nuclear plant in Mersin province.
In addition, Putin also added that the two countries had reached consensus on adiscount in natural gas prices as a part of the deal. He stated that Moscow had also lifted restrictions on citrus exports.
President Erdogan also said they discussed Syria and the Euphrates Shield Operation in detail as well as strategies and cooperation regarding humanitarian aid to Aleppo. Putin said Moscow was on the same page with Ankara about delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo.
According to the Russian leader, Moscow and Ankara also agreed to intensify military contacts.
The signing of the deal came after a bilateral meeting between Erdogan and Putin who was in Istanbul to attend the 23rd World Energy Congress.
Russia’s Gazprom and Turkey’s BOTAS in 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, with a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year from Russia to Turkey across the Black Sea.
The meeting of the two leaders marked the third occasion after bilateral relations were put back on track in August since the Russian military jet incident.
This was Putin’s first trip to Turkey since a bilateral crisis sparked by Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian war plane over Syria last November.
He and Erdogan have met on two occasions after the event. In June, a deal was made to normalise ties in Putin’s home city of Saint Petersburg and then on the side-lines of the G-20 in China.
Hurriyet
