Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in St. Petersburg for talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Constantine Palace.
The President is accompanied by the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek,the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Culture Minister Nabi Avcı, the Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, the Agriculture Minister Faruk Celik, the Energy Minister Berat Albayrak and the deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Mehdi Eker.
The leaders are first expected to hold closed-circle talks and then the negotiations with delegations. Later Putin and Erdogan are due to hold a joint news conference. The presidents will also talk to the representatives of Russian and Turkish businesses during a meeting .
This will be the first personal meeting between the Russian and Turkish heads of state since last November. The talks that are expected to mark a thaw in the 8-month freeze in bilateral relations following the downing of a Russian jet by the Turkish Air Force, TASS reminds.
