Official website of the President of Russia

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President Vladimir Putin: Dear Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank the Turkish leadership and the President for the invitation and for organising this visit. I met three times with the President and I am very grateful to him for the initiative he has shown in developing our bilateral relations. It was a very timely initiative.

We have just held talks on the whole range of our bilateral relations. We discussed both regional issues and questions of international relations. As you have seen, many of our ministries and companies prepared agreements for signing. Together with the joint declaration on strengthening the friendship and the multifaceted partnership between Russia and Turkey this makes for a solid package of agreements that will form the foundation for moving forward.

I would like to say a few more words regarding the declaration. Not only does it reinforce the increasing quality of relations between Russia and Turkey and confirms the achievements made thus far, it also sets the direction for promising future cooperation. Overall, the declaration reflects the firm commitment that we share with the Turkish leadership to developing political, economic, cultural and other relations between our countries.

I would like to note that I still have a meeting coming up with Prime Minister Erdogan at which we will discuss the practical aspects of our cooperation, including business cooperation issues.

We are committed to stepping up our trade and economic ties, especially in high technology sectors. As you know, we are to continue discussion on this subject with representatives of the Turkish and Russian business communities.

I would like to note in particular how close our positions are regarding the joint fight against terrorism. We know that Turkey has been a target for terrorist attacks on a number of occasions and we are grateful to the Turkish people and leadership for their moral and political support for Russia in the fight against international terrorism.

It is with satisfaction that I note the close positions we hold regarding current international issues. This concerns the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Trans-Caucasus and the Middle East.

I would like to note that when we in Russia take stock of our cooperation and relations with other countries, we often find ourselves saying of late that the level of economic relations and practical cooperation is lagging behind the level of political cooperation. With Turkey the situation is quite the opposite. Life itself, the millions of ordinary Russians who come to Turkey on holiday and the business communities who are working actively with each other are inciting the political leadership of both countries to raise our cooperation to a much higher level. I am very pleased that together with the Turkish President and Prime Minister we are taking this step forward today.

I would like to thank the media for the understanding they have shown towards this process and the support they give to us in developing the relations between our countries.

Finally, I would like to apologise to the residents of Ankara for the inconveniences we have caused, but I want to share the responsibility for this situation with the local security services.

Thank you very much to everyone.