Putin Welcomed with Highest Honors in Turkey

Russian President Vladimir Putin was welcomed in Ankara on Monday with the highest honors, Turkish media report, as stated by the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

During the day, Putin met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he discussed economic issues between the two countries.

It was previously announced that Turkey and Russia plan to increase annual trade between the two countries to 100 billion dollars annually, in order to neutralize Western sanctions.

An increase in trade between Russia and Turkey would particularly benefit Russia, considering that at the end of November, the Central Bank of Russia admitted that economic growth in 2015 would remain at zero, while both foreign and Russian capital would continue to leave the country.

As announced by the offices of both presidents, the focus of the meeting between Putin and Erdogan will remain on the currently most important issue, which is the economy, while the issues of Crimea, Iraq, and other problems burdening these two countries will not be addressed during this meeting, reports NAP.