ANKARA, Dec 5 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Turkey Sunday for a landmark visit during which the two sides will look into ways of increasing cooperation in the fight against global terrorism and further boost spectacular progress in trade.
Turkish officials threw a massive security cordon around capital Ankara for Putin's visit, the first by a Russian head of state since 1972.
The Russian leader made no statement upon his arrival but waved to reporters before stepping into an armoured limousine, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Several roads leading from the airport to the presidential complex where Putin will stay were closed to traffic while helicopters circled above during the Russian leader's drive into the city.
More than 3,000 police officers have been mobilized to ensure Putin's safety during his visit until late Monday.
Putin is scheduled to attend a dinner given by his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer later Sunday before official talks on Monday during which the two sides will sign six agreements and a joint declaration on deepening multilateral cooperation.
"Putin's official visit to Turkey is an important milestone in Turkish-Russian relations," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will accompany Putin, wrote in an article published in the daily Milliyet newspaper on Sunday.
"These agreements will prove an important impetus in bringing our cooperation to a new level," he added.
Bilateral trade has increased dramatically since the end of the Cold War when tensions often ran high between the Soviet Union and NATO's easternmost member Turkey, but political ties have often hit snags.
Moscow has long accused Ankara of turning a blind eye to the activities of Chechen separatists, who enjoy popular support in Turkey, which is home to large communities of Turkish-speaking nations from the Caucasus -- an accusation Turkey categorically denies.
Russia has also complained of Turkey's failure to prevent its citizens from joining the secessionists' ranks and pro-Chechen groups from sending financial aid to the rebels.
"We wish to further strengthen our cooperation with Turkey on the issues of terrorism, separatism, discrimination on ethnic grounds, religious fundamentalism and organized crime," Lavrov said.
"In this respect, it is of utmost importance to cut off financial and monetary support to terrorist organisations and groups," he added.
Ahead of Putin's visit, anti-terror police in Istanbul detained 12 people -- nine Chechens and three Turkish nationals of Chechen descent -- who had ties to "religious terrorist organizations" and who "sent abroad aid money collected in Turkey", a police statement said.
Several CDs and video cassettes seized with the suspects contained images of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and attacks carried out by his militants, according to Anatolia.
Another issue that will figure in the talks is the congestion through the Bosphorus Strait, a main outlet for Russian oil to world markets.
The Russians complain that Turkey is deliberately restricting tanker traffic through the Bosphorus at a time when a US-backed pipeline destined to carry Azeri oil via Turkey is nearing completion.
Turkey argues that the Bosphorus is already congested and accidents involving tankers are a potential threat to Istanbul, a sprawling megalopolis of 12 million inhabitants bisected by the narrow waterway.
The two sides will also explore prospects of increasing bilateral trade which was worth 6.8 billion dollars (5.1 billion dollars) in 2003 and was expected to reach 10 billion dollars by the end of this year.
"There are opportunities to build a closer economic cooperation in Eurasia, to undertake larger-scale energy projects and to modernise industrial facilities in Turkey with our economic help," Lavrov wrote in Milliyet.
12/05/2004 17:51 GMT - AFP