MOSCOW, Jan 10 (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin as he began a three-day visit to Russia aimed at further improving the remarkable economic ties between the two former Cold War foes.
Erdogan went from Moscow airport to Putin's country residence outside the Russian capital, Novo-Ogaryevo, where the two men held talks over an informal dinner.
"We will have the opportunity to talk about bilateral issues and exchange views about the international situation, and tomorrow we will meet with business representatives," Putin said in televised comments.
The Turkish premier, who was scheduled to meet Putin for further talks the following day at the Kremlin, welcomed the strengthening relations between Ankara and Moscow.
"My arrival here comes a very short time after your visit (to Turkey), which shows the warm ties between Turkey and Russia," Erdogan was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency.
His trip follows a high-profile visit to Ankara in December by Putin, during which the two sides sought to lay to rest tensions that arose from mutual accusations of harboring terrorists and often marred bilateral ties in the past.
Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport before flying out that the volume of bilateral trade surpassed 10 billion dollars in 2004, setting the new target at 25 billion dollars.
"Cooperation between our countries has recorded serious progress in the past 10 years... Both countries have a strong political will to further improve economic and commercial relations," he said.
On Wednesday, he will attend a meeting of Turkish and Russian businessmen and inaugurate a Turkish Trade Center, a 9,000-square-meter complex of shops and business, in downtown Moscow.
Erdogan said cooperation in the field of energy would also be high on his agenda, but did not elaborate.
According to Turkish media reports, Ankara is seeking a new discount in the price of the natural gas that Turkey is importing from Russia via the so-called Blue Stream pipeline, which runs under the Black Sea.
Turkey already negotiated a discount in 2003.
Officials from the two sides are also expected to discuss the possibility of extending the Blue Stream conduit to Israel, the NTV news channel said.
The Turkish ministers of energy, foreign trade, industry and labor as well as about 500 business people are accompanying Erdogan on his trip to Moscow.
01/10/2005 18:32 GMT - AFP