Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) during a meeting at the CICA Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan on October 13, 2022.
Moscow/Ankara – Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, discussed deepening trade cooperation and the export of Russian grain by phone. According to the TASS agency, Putin said this in a video conference speech on the occasion of the loading of nuclear fuel into Turkey's first nuclear power plant. It is being built by the Russian concern Rosatom. In addition, the head of the Kremlin supported Erdogan in the upcoming Turkish elections.
Advertisement'; }
“We have agreed with the Turkish president to expand cooperation in agriculture. We are working on Erdogan's initiative on the free supply of flour to the most needy countries in the world. The flour will be produced by the Turkish industry from grain supplied by the Russian side,” Putin was quoted as saying by the TASS agency.
Erdogan, who will defend his mandate in the presidential election in two weeks, was portrayed by Putin as a capable leader. “You know how to set ambitious goals and you do everything to achieve them confidently,” he told his Turkish counterpart, according to AFP. Erdogan, who this week canceled part of his election campaign program due to health problems. Erdogan's health has been talked about since Tuesday, when the filming of the interview on television had to be interrupted for about 20 minutes due to the president's indisposition. The president then explained that his troubles were related to intestinal flu.
“Our country has entered the league of nuclear power states,” Erdogan said of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. But the power plant will not yet start operating, even with the first shipment of Russian fuel rods. It should gradually be put into operation by 2028, the Turkish president said according to the DPA agency.
