Ergodan to discuss Syrian issue, visa waiver for Turkish citizens during visit to Moscow

ANKARA, March 7. /TASS/. On March 9-10, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make a visit to Russia and co-chair a meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council together with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The meeting will be held after over a year’s break following the downing of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber by a Turkish fighter jet in November 2015. The meeting’s participants will focus on the process of normalizing bilateral relations, launched by the two presidents in the summer of 2016. The ways to boost trade turnover to $100 bln will also be discussed, although this goal is hampered by restrictions still imposed by Russia on the import of some Turkish goods. Erdogan is expected to request Moscow to completely remove these restrictions. The two leaders will also exchange views on the Syrian issue. According to Turkish experts, Erdogan plans to thoroughly discuss Syria and, in particular, cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State terror group (outlawed in Russia). Cooperation in Syria Turkey’s military together with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has nearly concluded an important stage of the Euphrates Shield operation by liberating the al-Bab city and its suburbs form IS militants. A temporary boundary has been drawn near al-Bab with Syrian government forces, supported by Russia, deployed to the south of it while the Turkish military forces and FSA units are deployed to the north of the line. Moscow and Ankara have drawn the boundary in order to prevent military incidents between the Syrian troops and the FSA, the process requires boosting coordination between the two countries’ militaries. Besides that, in January, Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum aimed at preventing dangerous encounters between the two countries’ warplanes. At present, Turkey is preparing for advancing towards Raqqa believed to be the Islamic State’s capital in Syria. According to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Ankara "continues talks on the Raqqa operation with Russia and the US-led coalition." Edrogan said that the Euphrates Shield operation would move towards Raqqa if understanding with Russia and the international coalition was reached. Turkey also seeks to reach understanding on the Syrian Kurds issue. Ankara does not want the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and the Kurdish militia to take part in the operation. As an alternative, Turkey says that its air force and artillery, the Free Syrian Army, other Arab units and the coalition’s warplanes as well as Russia’s Aerospace Force could be employed, provided that Russia joins the operation. Energy sector As for cooperation in the energy sector, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant and the Turkish Stream gas pipeline projects top the agenda. The construction of the first energy unit of the Akkuyu NNP is scheduled to start at the end of the year. As for the Turkish Stream project, a source in the Turkstream company told TASS that "everything is going as planned" and "there have been no delays." At first, one string of the pipeline, with a capacity of 15.75 bln cubic meters, is expected to be built. It will become an alternative to the pipeline crossing Ukraine’s territory. However, the future of the second string of the pipeline is still unclear. It is planned to be used for delivering gas to the European countries but EU authorities avoid providing strong guarantees thus hampering the construction work. S-400 deal The Turkish media have recently been circulating reports on the possibility of purchasing the S-400 air defense missile systems from Russia. Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that "we have been holding talks with Russia on the S-400 systems. We are not ready to strike a deal yet but there has been progress in talks. Our expert are currently discussing technical aspects." Sources close to the negotiation process told TASS that "there is no certainty, Turkey has made some requests and expressed some wishes which will have to be assessed and weighed against Russia’s proposals." However, much hope is pinned on Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Moscow. Visa waiver The possibility of waiving Russian visas for Turkish citizens will be another topic to be discussed during Erdogan’s visit. Deputy Chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party Mehmet Mehdi Eker earlier said in an interview with TASS that "the citizens of our countries, particularly those who travel on business, need easy travel conditions. First and foremost, visa restrictions on businessmen should be removed." "This issue will be thoroughly discussed at the upcoming meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council," he added. Moscow introduced visas for Turkish citizens after Turkey’s fighter jet downed a Russian bomber in the Syrian airspace on November 24, 2015. As a result, Turkish tourists as well as businessmen have been facing a lot of difficulties. Ankara has been calling upon Moscow to waive visas since June 2016, when bilateral relations started to improve. Read more