The Third High-Level Cooperation Council was held yesterday at the Prime Ministry office in Dolmabahçe, Istanbul. The two countries signed 11 agreements spanning from economic, trade, scientific and technical collaborations during the meeting co-chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tension regarding the crisis in Syria failed to overshadow the economic partnership between Turkey and Russia. Both leaders vowed to increase trade volume to 100 billion dollars and ensured there would be no deviations on mega-energy projects.
Speaking at a press conference held following the council meeting, Prime Minister Erdoğan stated, "These meetings will undoubtedly further strengthen relations and act as one of the fundamental marks of acquiring a multi-aspect partnership."
TURKEY'S SECOND BIGGEST TRADE PARTNER
Prime Minister Erdoğan said the two nations tackled a number of issues during the meeting, including joint energy projects as well as further developing cultural relations.
"Turkey's economic and trade relations are increasing rapidly with Russia, which pleases us immensely. Trade relations have multiplied by seven since we have come into power. The Russian Federation is currently Turkey's second largest trade partner. Joint trade volume which was at 30 billion dollars in 2011 has now increased to 24.5billiondollars during the January to September period of 2012. We are hoping that figure will reach 35 billion dollars by the year's end," said Erdoğan.
Meanwhile, Çalık Holding Chairman of the Executive Board Ahmet Çalık signed a petroleum trade agreement with İgor Sechin, the General Manager of the Russian state petrol firm Rosneft during the council meeting.
TURKEY TO BECOME AN ENERGY HUB
A number of mega energy projects, including nuclear power plants, were discussed during the High-Level Cooperation Council held yesterday. Russian President commented that Turkey would soon become an energy hub for the region, while Prime Minister Erdoğan shared that Russian nuclear energy establishment Rastom has initiated its first capital entry into the Turkish market with a 700 million dollar investment in the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.
"This capital inflow will increase to 2.4 billion dollars. This is an indicator the project is developing nicely. This power station, which will cost approximately 20 billion dollars, will be the largest investment ever made in a single area in this nation. We are continuing our efforts unhindered," stated Erdoğan.
