Erdoğan, Putin to meet in first 10 days of August: Kremlin

MOSCOW

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin some time during the first 10 days of August, the Kremlin said on July 20, adding the exact date and location were yet to be determined. 

“The meeting between Putin and Erdoğan is being prepared through diplomatic channels,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists at a press conference, while adding that the meeting would take place in Russia. 

“We agreed to hold the meeting during the first 10 days of August and in the Russian Federation, but the exact date and the city is not clear yet,” he also said, according to Doğan News Agency.

Refuting claims that the meeting will take place in Baku, Peskov noted a trilateral meeting would take place between Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan in the city. 

Ankara and Moscow have recently engaged in tentative dialogue to restore relations. Erdoğan had sent a letter to Putin in late June to express his deep sorrow over the downing of the Russian jet and the killing of one Russian pilot on Nov. 24, 2015.

With the normalization of ties, Russia removed some sanctions on trade and restrictions on Russian tourists, though it will continue to impose visa regime to Turkish nationals. A deeper conversation between the two countries over a number of international issues like Syria and Crimea between the two foreign ministers will follow soon before the Putin-Erdoğan meeting. 

Putin called Erdoğan on July 17, after Turkish security forces quashed a July 15 coup attempt staged by a group of high-ranking officers within the army, telling him that “Russia found anti-constitutional acts and violence unacceptable and is hoping for the restoration of order and stability in Turkey.”

Putin had also told Erdoğan that he hoped Russian tourists would be protected in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt.