Turkey, Russia high-level meeting due soon

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA

A high-level meeting of Turkish and Russian officials that will likely be led by Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin will be held soon, a Turkish diplomat said Wednesday.

The High-Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) is usually headed by the two leaders and includes ministers from both states.

“The HLCC is planned to start at the beginning of this year but the date is not certain,” the Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, adding that Turkey expected “deliverable” results from the meeting.

The last meeting between Erdogan and Putin was held in August after Turkey and Russia patched up the fallout from the November 2015 downing of a Russian jet over the Turkey-Syria border.

Since the summer, Russia has relaxed the sanctions imposed on Turkey in response to the jet incident and the countries have worked together to bring a cease-fire and political solution to the conflict in Syria.

However, the official denied that Turkey had shifted its allegiance from the West to Russia, saying: “One is not an alternative for another.” Turkey’s goal is to return relations with Russia to their former state and enhance trade between the countries to $100 billion a year.

In August, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the council would likely meet in Moscow in early 2017.