Erdogan: Turkey will increase its military cooperation with Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to normalize relations between their countries, and to return them to the level before the crisis that erupted after the overthrow of the Turkish fighter Russian Air Force last November.

Putin and Erdogan said at a news conference in St. Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday it had been agreed at the start of talks on the resumption of the joint strategic projects, including the construction of "Akoya" nuclear plant in Russia by Turkish companies, and the resumption of Russian gas pipeline project towards southern Europe via Turkey.

Putin said that his country wants to resume relations with Turkey "fully" and that he is working on it, and added that during the meeting with Erdogan, the first steps to restore the level as relations between the two countries before the recent crisis fee.

He pointed out that Russia will lift restrictions on agricultural imports from Turkey, and Turkish construction companies, as well as the resumption of Russian tourist trips around Turkey.

The Russian leader said that the return of trade relations to the previous level require some time as it declined in the past few months by more than 40%. He added that detailed talks between the Russian and Turkish sides on normalizing trade relations will be held later.

And on the Syrian crisis, Putin said that Russia and Turkey have a common goal to resolve the crisis and that it can resolve the differences between Moscow and Ankara on ways of settlement. He added that the discussion of this issue will be made after the press conference held this afternoon, and it will search for "solutions that satisfy everyone," a reminder in the meantime, to reject his failed coup attempt in Turkey mid-July last

For his part, Erdogan said at the press conference that the talks with Russia, the two countries will push forward, and the improvement of relations between them, pointing out that his visit to Russia is the first abroad after the coup attempt.

He added that there is a political will to raise the level of relations between the two countries to a higher than they were before the recent crisis, also he stressed that the solidarity of Turkey and Russia can help in solving the problems in the region.

He pointed out that today's negotiations led to an agreement on the resumption of Russian tourist trips, and the abolition of sanctions on agricultural products imported from Russia and Turkey. And on the outcome of his meeting with his Russian counterpart, he said it had been agreed to develop cooperation in the fields of defense, industry and nuclear power, pointing to the nuclear plant be built by Turkish companies in Russia.

Turkish President stressed that relations between the two countries has become more than ever, stable, and insisted on the need to work to raise the value of trade exchange between the two countries to one hundred billion dollars from 35 billion dollars by the Russian plane crisis.