Erdogan to visit Russia on August 9MOSCOW: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia on August 9 for his first face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin since Moscow and Ankara mended ties damaged by the downing of a Russian jet last year, Turkish officials said Tuesday. Simsek is the highest ranking Turkish official to visit Russia since the November downing of the Russian jet on the Syrian border sparked an unprecedented crisis in relations. An official in Turkey confirmed the date, saying that Erdogan and Putin had agreed to meet ahead of the G20 summit in China in September. “The ambassador has informed us that our dear president (Erdogan) has confirmed that he will be in Saint Petersburg on the 9th (of August),” Russian news agencies quoted Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek as saying. Putin called Erdogan earlier this month to express his support after the failed putsch in Turkey, and the Kremlin confirmed at the time that the two leaders would meet in the near future.

Source: Manila Times July 26, 2016 10:18 UTC