Erdogan meets Putin on sidelines of G20 summit in China

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, indicates the countries' relations are continuing to improve.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (center L) meets with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (centre R) ahead of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China September 3, 2016.
TRT World and Agencies

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (center L) meets with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (centre R) ahead of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China September 3, 2016.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.

The two leaders discussed the resumption of flights from Russia to Turkey, which is likely to give a boost to Turkey's tourism sector, as well as political and economic ties between their countries.

Several other high ranking Turkish officials were also present at the meeting including Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak and head of the National Intelligence Organisation Hakan Fidan.

Reuters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (L) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ahead of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, September 3, 2016.

At the meeting Putin said he was glad that the political situation in Turkey is returning to normal after July's failed coup attempt but that more work needs to be done to rebuild ties.

Relations between Turkey and Russia deteriorated after a Russian jet which violated Turkish airspace was shot down near the Syrian border on November 24 last year, but have shown marked improvement in recent weeks. Erdogan met with Putin for the first time in months on August 9.

Route 6