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News > Turkey

Turkey's Erdogan, Russia's Putin to Talk Bilateral Agreements

  • Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greeted by supporters after the Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey April 5, 2019.

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greeted by supporters after the Friday prayers in Istanbul, Turkey April 5, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 8 April 2019
Opinion

As Turkey refuses to back down on buying Russian missle, U.S. threatens sanctions. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday to discuss bilateral relations, according to Anadolu news agency.

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“Our cooperation with Russia continues increasingly and becomes stronger [day by day],” Erdogan told reporters ahead of his departure from Istanbul to Moscow Monday morning.

“Visa-free travel is of course a topic that is on our agenda,” he added.

His visit comes just after Turkey purchased Russian-built surface-to-air missile system, something the United States considers a threat to its own F-35 fighter jet.

Turkey is a member of NATO and its relations with Russia have historically been tense, but that has changed as Erdogan has allied with Moscow over Washington.

On April 3, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said: "Turkey must choose” whether it wants to "remain a critical partner" in NATO or "risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance."

The U.S. State Department has threatened Ankara with sanctions if it moves forward with the missile systems purchase.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, while on a diplomatic mission to Washington last week, told a public television host that such threats to his nation to no buy defense systems from countries other than the U.S. were "unacceptable."

Cavusoglu, who has said "the S-400 deal is a done deal" that Ankara will not step back from, suggested a working group be formed between the Pentagon and Ankara to address the dispute.

But the Pentagon rejected the idea, saying that a "technical working group at this stage is not necessary or a path the United States is considering as a resolution."

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/top-headline/turkey-russia-cooperation-boosting-says-erdogan/1445150
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