RUSSIAN PRESIDENT IN TURKEY FOR TALKS ON ENERGY, FOREIGN POLICIES

APA
May 11 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku-APA. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the Turkish
capital Ankara on Tuesday for a two-day visit to the country, with
energy projects and cooperation in foreign policies high on his agenda,
APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

Turkey and Russia are expected to sign several agreements in energy,
economy and security areas during Medvedev’s visit, including a deal
on the joint construction of a nuclear power plant in south Turkey,
Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

There were no problems or negative developments regarding the agreement
on the nuclear power plant, which would be signed on Wednesday,
Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz was quoted
as speaking at a joint press conference with Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Igor Sechin earlier on Tuesday.

The fuel and energy sector is the key area of Russian-Turkish
cooperation, Medvedev wrote in an article for the Turkish newspaper
Today’s Zaman published Tuesday.

Apart from the nuclear power plant, landmark joint projects also
include the construction of the South Stream and Blue Stream- 2 gas
pipelines and the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Medvedev said.

The president said the two countries would also establish a high-level
cooperation council during his visit to boost bilateral relations,
coordinate the implementation of critical projects and provide
incentives for their businessmen to work together.

He said the cooperation council also "aims to create synergy between
foreign policies to ensure international peace, stability and safety."

Turkish and Russian officials are expected to discuss the situation
in southern Caucasus, with a special focus on the Nagorno-Karabakh
region, where Armenia and Azerbaijan have territorial disputes,
according to the Turkish newspaper.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan
in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and has demanded the withdrawal of
Armenian troops from the disputed land.

"We can confidently say that Russian-Turkish relations have advanced
to the level of a multidimensional strategic partnership, " Medvedev
wrote, describing Turkey as "one of our most important partners with
respect to regional and international issues."

Russia is one of Turkey’s biggest trade partners and supplies about
60 percent of Turkey’s gas imports.

Turkey and Russia signed a joint statement in January to allow a
consortium of Russia’s Atomstroyexport and Inter RAO, together with
Turkish company Park Teknik, to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey’s
Mediterranean province of Mersin.

The consortium had been the sole bidder in a 2008 tender for the plant,
but the deal was cancelled by Turkish authorities in November 2009
due to high prices set for the electricity produced by the plant.