Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to hold a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who will arrive in Moscow to attend the opening ceremony of the Cathedral Mosque on September 23, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"Indeed, Turkey’s president will participate in the opening ceremony of the mosque in Moscow and he will also have a meeting with the Russian president, they will have a bilateral discussion," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.
"We also expect, if the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, participates in the opening of the mosque, Putin will also have separate talks with him," Peskov stressed.
He noted that so far he cannot say whether the Russian leader will take part in the ceremony.
An expert of the Eurasian Center of the University of Ankara, political scientist Orhan Gafarli, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the main topic of conversation between the two presidents will be the Syrian problem. "Turkey and Russia have very different views on this issue. For example, Turkey thinks that firstly, Assad must leave and only then will they decide on the Islamic State issue. Russia's position is that Bashar al-Assad should also be included in the anti-terrorist coalition against Islamic State," he said.
"The second issue will be energy security, the construction of the Turkish Stream pipeline. "But I do not think that they can agree on this, because it is necessary to wait for the outcome of the parliamentary elections. But the Turkish side, I think, will send a message to the Russian leadership that Turkey does not want to discuss any discounts on gas after the signing of the Turkish Stream project. Turkey thinks that it is necessary to sign an agreement about a discount on gas, and then discuss the pipeline," the expert continued.
"The third issue which they will discuss, I think, will be the role of Turkey in solving the problems of the Crimean Tatars. It is important for Ankara that they could have a positive life in Crimea both in terms of human rights and in terms of economic integration," the analyst stressed.
Talking about how Russian-Turkish relations have been developing this year, he described them as "very pragmatic, which will continue, in spite of differences, for example, over the situation in the Middle East."
MGIMO Professor Elena Ponomareva also believes that first of all the presidents will discuss the Syrian crisis and its consequences, "which caused general destabilization of the international situation." "This is particularly evident in the migration flow to Europe, which also puts pressure on Turkey. The Islamic state which is also a consequence of the Syrian crisis," she said.
"Then, of course, there is obvious prospect of development of energy cooperation between Russia and Turkey. It is clear that, there won't be the Turkish Stream pipeline in the form that was planned originally, but nevertheless Turkey is still a very important player in the energy market," the expert added.
Ponomoreva suggested that the president can discuss the problem of "imbalanced system of international relations and NATO aggression." "The could raise the general deterioration of the economic situation in the world with the ongoing economic crisis, a drop in production, shaking of national currencies, which is observed in almost all countries," she noted
"And, of course, they will talk about some contingency of Christians and Muslims. The fact of the presence of the Russian president and the president of Turkey at the opening of the cathedral mosque is very revealing," Elena Ponomareva concluded.
