Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler also attended the meeting that lasted for five hours on July 16. The two leaders also met the next day at breakfast. After the meeting, they took a stroll around the residence's garden as they conversed about future economic and strategic cooperation.
Sochi is a coastal city on the other side of the Black Sea with high temperatures and humidity. It is a popular vacation spot, in which the population grows from 250,000 to more than one million during the holiday season.
Sochi, henceforth, could be likened to Antalya. During the summer, Putin works at his palace in Sochi where he had previously hosted German, French and British leaders.
Russian press has shown a great deal of interest in the Erdogan-Putin meeting. Many Russian journalists from Moscow came to Sochi to follow the talks. The latest improvement in Turkey-Russia relations has been consolidated with four meetings in seven months. Putin had been the first Russian President to visit Turkey after many years.
Bilateral economic relations are at their prime. The attitudes of both parties attest a great potential. Turkish entrepreneurs run big businesses in Moscow as Russian capital is interested in privatization bids in Turkey. Recently, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) opened an office in Moscow. The amount of Turkish-Russia economic cooperation reportedly totals $14-15 billion.
The Putin-Erdogan duo had the opportunity to handle various issues during the long meetings in a warm and relaxed atmosphere. The Turkish Energy Minister attending the meeting indicated the energy subject was dealt with in depth. Turkey finds the gas coming through the Blue Stream pipeline expensive and had made inconclusive attempts to obtain a discount. Alternative projects are considered for transferring Russian gas over Turkey to Europe and the Middle East. The project of constructing a gas and oil pipeline from Samsun to Ceyhan is only one among many projects. Turkey is waiting for the Russian party over certain concerns, so that the Russian gas will not harm Turkish economy.
Brighter relations in the economic field have not yet been transferred to the political arena. Russia did not concretely support Turkey's interest as a political partner. During Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to Moscow in January, Putin had given the signs of a political course in line with Turkey' theses on the issue of Cyprus. However, we did not get anything more later on. Turkey's main demands from Russia consist of a discussion of Annan report in the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the implementation of steps that will end the isolation. Both US representatives and congressional members took concrete steps in this direction by visiting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). An Azeri delegation is to visit TRNC in the up coming days. Russia is still in abstention regarding this issue. Some claim that they obstructed the issuing of the Annan report. Following the Sochi meetings, Putin made some important declarations. He said that they would keep on backing Annan's efforts and see what they can do to bring the Turkish and Greek parties together.
The Russian leader stressed the first step had to be the lifting of the isolation imposed on TRNC. "A permanent solution can be found for peace between the two communities by normalizing relations. We will keep on backing Annan's efforts for normalization."
Turkish and Russian foreign policy objectives should coincide so that the bilateral relations go beyond economic partnership and become a strategic relation.
