Putin and Erdogan to meet at Turkish Stream ceremony

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet in January 2020, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that the ceremony heralding completion of all works on the Turkish Stream project is a good reason for personal contacts between the presidents. 

"It is scheduled to take place in January," TASS cited him as saying.

At the same time he noted that the leaders may have a talk earlier, if they find it necessary. "Putin and Erdogan agree to have telephone contacts rather quickly. In this case it can happen at any moment," Peskov added.

Earlier today, Erdogan said he would like to have a telephone conversation with the Russian leader after a two-day visit to the United States, where he is going to discuss Syria with President Donald Trump.

Political scientist Orhan Gafarli, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted tha twe can get a clearer picture of cooperation between Russia and Turkey in Syria by January. “A lot can happen in two months in terms of the positive development of Russian-Turkish relations, both bilateral and in matters of regional security, especially in Syria. I think the meeting in January will be a very important indicator that our relations are developing. The parties have understanding that Russia and Turkey should develop economic and power contacts in many areas. All these topics will be reflected in Erdogan-Putin talks at the beginning of the year," he expects.

The launch of the Turkish Stream pipeline will be a positive event for Russian-Turkish contacts. “The Turkish Stream is a strategic project for Turkey, which will, firstly, provide Turkey’s domestic demand, and secondly, play the role of a transit pipe from Russia to Europe. That is, this pipeline is important for Turkey for two reasons at once. The launch of the Turkish Stream will finally confirm the fact that Russia and Turkey have the same position on energy issues,” Orhan Gafarli emphasized.

According to deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association Andrei Baklanov, taking the current active communication of the presidents on Syria into account, we should expect that their meeting in January will be more devoted to economic issues.

“Recent phone calls and meetings have been focused on Syria. It seems to me that on the sidelines of the Turkish Stream launch ceremony, along with current operational military-political issues, the leaders will return to discussing the development of our economic ties. In particular, the construction of large-scale facilities, funding and repayment of funds," he explained.

The launch of the Turkish Stream as a whole is extremely important for both countries and their relations. “Any successful project creates the conditions for moving into the future. Our relations were uneven, skeptics expressed doubts that they could develop. The success of the Turkish Stream project will help overcome this skepticism. Also, a fundamental solution to all issues related to the construction of the Turkish Stream may create more favorable conditions for other branches of gas supply in Europe to be successfully built and meet less resistance," Andrei Baklanov noted.