Turkish, Russian foreign ministers to meet in southern Turkey

ANKARA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a working visit to the southern province of Antalya’s Alanya district on Dec. 1 in his first visit after the normalization of Russian-Turkish ties following a crisis after a Russian warplane was shot down on Nov. 24, 2015, for allegedly violating Turkish airspace.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Russian counterpart will have a bilateral meeting on Dec. 1 on the sidelines of a fifth session of the Russian-Turkish Joint Strategic Planning Group meeting, which help prepare the way for Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s visit to Russia set to take place between Dec. 5 and 6.

On late Nov. 29, the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Russian parliament promptly accepted three agreements signed between Turkey and Russia ahead of Lavrov’s visit. 

The agreements signed are a Draft Law on the Recognition of the Approval of the Agreement between the Republic of Turkey and the Russian Federation on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and Extradition, a Draft Law on the Approval of the Agreement on Russian Burial Places in the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Burial Places in the Russian Federation, and a Draft Law on the Approval of the Mutual Agreement on the Turkish Stream Pipeline Project. 

 “There are plans to carry out profound exchange of views on a wide scope of pressing bilateral, international and regional issues. A discussion on the situation in Syria and the general situation in the region is [also] scheduled. Issues related to raising the effectiveness of the fight against international terrorism will also be in the focus of attention. Dialogue on issues related to the situation in Transcaucasia, Central Asia and Ukraine will continue,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said earlier.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Saint Petersburg on Aug. 9 for his first direct meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, since the shooting-down of a Russian fighter jet by Turkish Air Forces on the Syrian border in 2015 that caused unprecedented damage in relations.