Putin says Russia, Turkey have many coinciding regional interests

Moscow, Russia, Dec.18 By Orkhan Yolchuyev - Trend: Russia and Turkey have many coinciding regional interests and these issues shouldn’t be resolved without Turkey’s active participation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his 10th annual press conference on Dec.18. He said Russia is interested in having relations with Turkey, adding that the country will develop these relations. Regarding the Cyprus issue, Putin said Russia tries to hold a balanced position on it and bring to a solution that would suit both Turkish and Greek parts of the island. Turkey sent a seismic research vessel called Barbados to the region to search for oil and gas deposits. Greek Cyprus considered it a violation of its territorial waters. Following this, in October 2014 the Greek Cypriots halted peace talks about the island, which is ethnically divided between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency