Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Antalya on Wednesday. The sides are expected to discuss topical issues of both bilateral and international agendas.
The heads of diplomatic departments of Russia and Turkey maintain regular contacts. The two ministers last met in Doha on March 10 this year during Lavrov's working trip to Saudi Arabia, and they have held five face-to-face meetings in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Moscow expects that the upcoming talks will contribute to the further development of multifaceted relations between Russia and Turkey.
Safe tourism
Since June 22, Russia and Turkey fully resumed air communication, which was limited in mid-April due to the new wave of the pandemic in Turkey. The decision on the resumption of flights was made by the operating staff of the Russian government after the monitoring mission of Rospotrebnadzor, the Ministry of Health and Rostourism specialists to Turkey. According to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Turkish authorities are ready to take appropriate measures if Russian tourists fall ill.
This year, according to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, 3 million Russians may travel to Turkey from June 22 to the end of September. In this connection it is assumed that the subject of ensuring safety of life and health of the Russian citizens staying in Turkey will be one of the main issues at talks between Lavrov and Cavusoglu.
It should be noted that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on June 24 in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his gratitude for the resumption of air communication between the two countries and the beginning of supplies of Russian vaccine Sputnik V to the republic.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry ahead of the meeting, the ministers also plan to discuss the use of the Sputnik V vaccine in Turkey, the first batch of which arrived in the republic on June 14, as well as the speedy establishment of its production by Turkish pharmaceutical companies.
Post-election settlement
One of the international topics that the ministers plan to discuss will be the political settlement in Syria after the presidential elections held there on May 26, which were won by incumbent President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia and Turkey have repeatedly stressed their commitment to Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Lavrov and Cavusoglu are also expected to discuss preparations for the sixth session of the drafting commission of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva.
The talks between the two ministers seem especially important ahead of the upcoming 16th international meeting on Syria in the Astana format, which will be held in Nur-Sultan on July 7-8.
In addition, the Russian and Turkish militaries regularly conduct joint patrols in Syria based on agreements between Moscow and Ankara. Lavrov and Cavusoglu are also expected to touch on the topics of humanitarian aid to local residents, the situation in Idlib and northeastern Syria, and the fight against terrorism.
Further efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh
The situation in the Transcaucasus will be another important topic of talks between the foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey.
An important turn in the fate of the region was the June 15 declaration signed in Shusha on allied relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan. In addition, Erdogan, speaking in the Azerbaijani parliament, said that together with Baku he was ready to fully restore Nagorno-Karabakh. In response to signing the document, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that it is directed against the Armenian people and completely contradicts the main norms of international law.
Commenting on the Shusha Declaration, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow sees it wrong to confuse the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement with the foreign relations of regional states. She recalled that multilateral efforts are made in the region to bring the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to an agreement and move toward peace.
In addition, Putin and Erdogan gave a positive assessment of the work of the joint Russian-Turkish center for monitoring the ceasefire and military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh in a telephone conversation on June 24.
Progress in Libya
Another topic of discussion will be the situation in Libya. At the Forum of the Libyan political dialogue in Switzerland in February this year, the Libyan head of government and representatives of the Presidential Council were approved, whose task is to prepare and conduct in accordance with the previously approved road map of the national elections in the country on December 24, 2021.
After the international conference on Libya in Berlin on June 23, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said that, according to Moscow, the situation in Libya is "relatively stable" and "generally goes in the right direction".
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that during the upcoming talks Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart plan to discuss preparations for the general elections in Libya, assistance to the authorities of the country in solving the political and socio-economic problems and consolidation of the national armed forces, as well as the activities of a joint military committee in the "five plus five" format.
It is expected that the foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey at the talks in Antalya will also discuss the situation in other areas of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, the situation in Ukraine, Central Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region.
Enhancing cooperation
The ministers will not ignore the bilateral agenda during the talks. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that considerable attention will be paid to trade and economic cooperation and ensuring its qualitative growth. "We state that within January-April 2021, trade turnover grew by 22.5% to $9.1 billion compared to the same period in 2020, including Russian exports by 21.1% to $7.2 billion and imports by 27.8% to $1.9 billion," the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministers will pay special attention to military-technical cooperation. Turkey was the first NATO country to buy S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, despite the negative reaction of the United States and other partners in the alliance. During the talks on June 17, the US President Joe Biden and Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan failed to reach an agreement on the issue of S-400 missiles, purchased by Turkey.
In addition, Russia plans to emphasize the need to remove additional import duties on a wide range of domestic goods. The ministers will also discuss issues of Russian-Turkish cultural and humanitarian cooperation and interaction with civil society institutions.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS