Turkish, Russian foreign ministers meet in Doha
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) welcomes Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for the talks at an airport outside Doha, Qatar, March 10, 2021. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)


Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met Wednesday in Qatar's capital Doha.

"Discussed w/FM Sergey #Lavrov of #RF [Russian Federation] our relations and recent developments in #NagornoKarabakh, #Libya & #Syria," Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter following the meeting.

Çavuşoğlu noted that the third unit foundation of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) was laid earlier on Wednesday, and expressed his hope that it will serve the nation well.

The start of operations for the plant's first unit is planned for 2023 when the country will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the republic. The remaining three units are due to start operations by the end of 2026, at a rate of one per year.

An intergovernmental agreement for the Akkuyu NPP, which is currently under construction, was signed between Turkey and Russia in May 2010.

"Aiming to reach pre-pandemic figures for tourism this year," Çavuşoğlu said.

Çavuşoğlu's two-day working visit to the Gulf state of Qatar came following his visits to Central Asian Turkic countries, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.