Turkey, Russia to boost Eurasia security: Putin

MOSCOW

Turkey and Russia will continue to work together for strengthening peace, security and stability on the Eurasian continent, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, expressing his satisfaction on the positive development of bilateral ties.

Putin sent a written New Year greeting to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to a statement by the Kremlin on Dec 30.

Putin said he was pleased with the auspicious development of Russia-Turkey relations in 2018, specifically highlighting the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant and the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

“The construction of the first unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant has begun and the offshore section of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline has been built. New, promising areas of bilateral cooperation have been outlined,” read the message.

The Russian leader stressed that through their joined efforts, Moscow and Ankara are making a decisive contribution to fighting terrorism in Syria and advancing the process of political settlement in that country.

Putin expressed his firm belief that the work on building mutually beneficial ties across all areas for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries in the interest of strengthening peace, security and stability on the Eurasian continent will continue.

The message came just a day after Turkish and Russian delegations have discussed recent developments in Syria as the United States announced that its troops will be withdrawn in early 2019.

Putin also sent a message to President of the Syria Bashar al-Assad, in which he stressed that Russia will continue to provide all-round assistance to the government and people of Syria in their fight against terrorism and efforts to protect state sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Kremlin. The Russian leader wished the Syrian people the earliest return to peaceful and prosperous life.

In his letter to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, Putin said that Moscow was ready for dialogue on a "wide-ranging agenda", the Kremlin said.

Putin also sent New Year greetings to other world leaders including prime ministers Theresa May of Britain and Shinzo Abe of Japan, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping.