Russian media sees Turkish Stream deal as 'stream of friendship'

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's official meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has received widespread coverage in the Russian media. Russian news channels offered many live broadcasts of Putin's first visit to Turkey following the fighter jet crisis that broke out on Nov. 24, 2015. News about Putin's visit in Istanbul remained high on Russian news portals, while newspapers dedicated their headlines and front pages to the Erdoğan-Putin meeting. Moreover, some 60 Russian journalists received a Turkish visa to cover the meeting.

The Russian Kommersant newspaper highlighted the agreement that was signed between Turkish and Russian governments on the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline on its front page. It dedicated a whole page to the analysis pieces written by columnists who covered the meeting in Istanbul, while featuring the particulars of the Turkish Stream on another page.

Moreover, the Izvestia newspaper reported the fact that Putin visited Turkey for the first time after the fighter jet crisis, citing the details of the Erdoğan-Putin summit under the headline "Stream of friendship reestablished." Komsomolskaya Pravda featured the agreement on the Turkish Stream pipeline project, stating that Erdoğan and Putin agreed on the natural gas discount and agricultural products. The Vedomosti newspaper, a daily publication on the economy and business world, published the headline, "Turkish citrus fruits returning to Russian market."

Various websites and news portals also reported many news pieces about the meeting. Kommersant online used the heading "Turkish fruits returning," Gazeta.ru "Russia allows import of Turkish fruits" and "Turkish Stream signed," and Lenta.ru "Russian reopens market for Turkish agricultural products." Russian news channels conveyed Putin's visit and his joint press conference with Erdoğan to their audience through live broadcasts from Istanbul throughout the day.

The Russian-24 TV channel brought the issues of the Turkish Stream, Syria and energy-related developments to the forefront through live broadcasts from Istanbul. The Life News TV channel broadcast headlines like "Erdoğan, Putin decide on continuation of normalization in Turkish-Russian relations," "Erdoğan: Turkey, Russia might cooperate on Operation Euphrates Shield," and "Erdoğan-Putin meeting lasted nearly two hours."