MOSCOW (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that his government is working towards establishing a trade volume between Turkey and Russia worth over 10 billion U.S. dollars.
Erdogan arrived in Moscow last night for a three-day official visit. Erdogan met the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday morning.
''Economic ties between Turkey and Russia are developing rapidly. 600 Turkish businessmen and businesswomen came with me to Moscow. Two more planes carrying Turkish entrepreneurs will come today. We will discuss economic, commercial and tourism topics,'' told Erdogan.
In a statement delivered at the beginning of the meeting between delegations, Erdogan said that Turkey wishes the year 2005 to be a year of peace. ''We will walk together towards the future. We hope to cooperate with the Russians in the fields of energy, tourism and trade. We will discuss possible cooperation in military related topics. We are going to evaluate regional developments. We will focus on energy, transportation and social security matters,'' remarked Erdogan.
Russian President Putin stated that he will discuss current topics with Erdogan. ''The trade volume between Turkey and Russia exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars last year. Our expectations in trade ties became real. I expect the trade volume between Turkey and Russia to go well over 15 billion U.S. dollars in the near future,'' expressed Putin.
Putin stressed that, aside from the energy sector, he has certain plans pertaining to military-technical issues with Turkey.
Prime Minister Erdogan is being accompanied by State Minister Kursat Tuzmen, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler, Labor and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu and Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun in Moscow.
2005-01-11