Erdogan, Putin to meet during G20 Summit in China

MOSCOW

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet on Saturday during the G20 summit in China, the Kremlin announced Tuesday.

In a statement, the Kremlin said the two leaders would discuss the civil war-torn country Syria and the fight against international terrorism, the Kremlin said.

Erdogan and Putin will also discuss the normalization process between Turkey and Russia as well as bilateral cooperation process, especially in energy, trade and economy sectors.

Erdogan will also meet his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Sunday in China, the White House said on Monday. The meeting will be the first between Obama and Erdogan since the July 15 coup attempt.

The meetings come as Turkey takes part in Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria. The operation aims at improving security, supporting anti-Daesh coalition forces and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey’s southern border using Free Syrian Army fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery and jets.

Ties between Moscow and Ankara entered a new phase following the August 9 meeting between Erdogan and Putin in St. Petersburg.

Relations between the two countries soured last November after the downing of the Russian jet, which had violated Turkish airspace along the Syrian border.

The issue seemed largely resolved on June 29 through a letter and subsequent telephone calls between the countries’ leaders.

Putin gave his support to Turkey during the July 15 coup attempt and said he stood by the elected government in Ankara, offering his condolences to the victims of what Erdogan called the “most heinous” armed coup attempt in modern Turkish history.

*Reporting by Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan; Writing by Handan Kazanci