Putin and Erdogan Emphasize Increased Military, Nuclear, and Energy Cooperation

As the construction of the 'Akkuyu' nuclear power plant in Turkey by 'Rosatom' begins, officials from Ankara and Moscow announced an increase in military, commercial, and energy cooperation. According to Turkey's official news agency, Anadolu, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Monday, December 20, at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart that the barriers to economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries have been removed. He expressed satisfaction with the level of energy cooperation and stated that the start of construction of the 'Akkuyu' nuclear power plant was a fundamental and important step. Putin also indicated that the prospects for technical-military cooperation between the two countries are satisfactory. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the contract for the delivery of the Russian 'S-400' air defense system will be finalized this week. Rosatom, in a report published on its official website, stated that a limited permit for the construction of non-nuclear equipment for the Turkish nuclear power plant was received in October this year, and construction of the plant began on Saturday. Alexey Likhachev, head of Rosatom, mentioned that 35 to 40 percent of the project will be executed by Turkish companies, and the first power plant will cost between 6 to 8 billion dollars, expected to be operational by 2023. Turkey and Russia have signed contracts for the construction of four power plants, each with a capacity of 1200 megawatts. The total value of the project is estimated at 20 billion dollars, and technical permits for the construction of the nuclear sections are expected to be provided by the Turkish government by March of next year. Erdogan, in the joint press conference with Putin, stated that the level of cooperation between the two countries is strengthening day by day. He noted that bilateral trade between Russia and Turkey has also grown by 30 percent over the first 10 months of this year. Anadolu reminded that the leaders of Turkey and Russia have met eight times this year. According to this report, Putin expressed satisfaction with the prospects for military cooperation between the two countries and mentioned that during his visit to Ankara, an agreement was reached on providing a loan to the Turkish government to enhance military cooperation. According to Russian news agency TASS, he also referred to the construction of the 'Turk Stream' pipeline, stating that the development of this project is ongoing. This pipeline is expected to transport over 31 billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually through the Black Sea to Turkey and Europe. Last month, Gazprom announced that the construction of the pipeline in waters owned by Russia has been completed, and the company has begun constructing the remaining section of the project in Turkish waters. This project is expected to be operational by the end of 2019. Currently, Russia transports gas to Turkey through two routes. According to the latest official statistics from Turkey, the country received nearly 21 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia in the first nine months of this year, which is an increase of over 23 percent compared to the same period last year. Russia is also one of Turkey's main oil suppliers.