The 86th International İzmir Fair will kick off on Aug. 18, and will usher in a new era in Turkish-Russian relations, with new agreements expected to be signed at the Turkey-Russia business forum under the theme of "Partner Country Russia."

Turkey and Russia, which have signed giant energy project agreements such as the Turkish Stream and Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, have made a move to work on new areas of cooperation, and İzmir will host a critical meeting this week.

According to the Habertürk daily, agreements are planned be signed on new cooperation areas during the Turkey-Russia Business Forum, which will start on Aug. 18 and end on Aug. 27.

Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Science, Industry and Technology Minister Faruk Özlü and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak will attend the forum. Also, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Russian Industry and Commerce Minister Denis Manturov are expected to take part in the forum, which will set out road maps for the development of cooperation between the two countries.

In addition to the forum, there will be other sessions between the two countries - the Turkey- Russia Industrial Cooperation, Turkey-Russia Contracting and Regional Cooperation and Turkey Russia Special Economic Zones, Energy and Tourism Cooperation. Representatives of more than 100 Russian companies will attend the fair and sign new cooperation agreements with their Turkish counterparts.

Energy to come tops bilateral talks

Bilateral talks between ministers of the two countries will also take place. The Turkish Stream will be at the forefront of the projects discussed. Russian state gas giant Gazprom has announced that it would set an earlier date for the construction of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline project in the sea section and would start construction in the coming months.

The road map and coordination to be followed for the natural gas pipeline project will also be discussed at the talks. Ministers will also assess the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, the construction of which is slated to begin at the beginning of 2018, and recent studies on licenses expected to be issued by Turkey.

The tomato crisis, one of the most important agenda items for Turkey, will also be discussed. Zeybekci had said that they could "take countermeasures" if necessary. Turkish tomato producers had carried out 70 percent of exports to Russia in 2015.