Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a joint news conference.
Beginning of the talks in narrow format
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues,
We all know that in previous years, the level and quality of relations between our countries reached an unprecedented high. However, after the tragedy that killed our soldiers in November last year, that relationship plummeted and degraded.
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At the same time, despite the very difficult political situation in Turkey, your visit today shows that we all want to resume our dialogue and restore our relations for the benefit of the peoples of Turkey and Russia.
I know I was one of the first to call you and give support about overcoming the internal political crisis caused by the attempted coup. I would like to repeat: it is our position of principle that we always stand up against any attempts to revert to unconstitutional actions.
In this regard, I would like to express hope that the Turkish people will overcome this problem, under your leadership, and that order and constitutional legality will be restored.
Today we will have the opportunity to talk both one-on-one and in an expanded format and discuss the entire scope of our contacts, including the recovery of our trade and economic relations, and cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
I am very pleased to have this opportunity. Welcome!
To be continued.