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ANKARA – Turkish Daily News 09/12/2004 08:56
President Putin’s historic visit adds political will
to expanding economic ties and sets the stage for
defense cooperation, but Ankara is still seeking
remedies for a trade deficit and concrete gestures
in the fight against the PKK
Turkey and Russia agreed to expand their cooperation
to a higher level, that of the defense industry,
after a landmark visit by President Vladimir Putin
gave a boost to a booming cooperation in trade.
“The defense industry is the most important area of
cooperation for the two countries,” Defense Minister
Vecdi Gönül told a joint news conference yesterday
after talks with visiting Russian Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov. “We agreed to cooperate in this field
in the best way.”
Ivanov arrived in Ankara together with President
Vladimir Putin, who has become the first Russian
president to visit Turkey since the collapse of the
Soviet Union. Putin left Ankara Monday night after
talks with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but Ivanov extended
his stay for talks with Gönül.
Russia is eyeing a share in lucrative tenders for
modernization of the Turkish military and is
particularly interested in a project to purchase
attack helicopters.
Putin told Erdoğan at a dinner on Monday night that
his country was interested in defense and energy
privatization tenders in Turkey, particularly a
stalled tender for privatization of the state-owned
oil refinery, TÜPRAŞ.
Ivanov lamented that cooperation between Russia and
Turkey was not as advanced as that between Russia
and many other NATO countries and emphasized that
Russia was not asking for privileged treatment in
defense industry tenders.
“We know very well that the choice in these tenders
will be made in a transparent manner and that
Turkish authorities will look into product quality
and price,” Ivanov said.
Putin’s visit, the first by a Russian president
since the collapse of the Soviet Union, is expected
to intensify multidimensional cooperation between
the two countries. The Russian leader expressed
satisfaction with Turkey’s stance against Chechen
groups, toughening in recent years mostly in
response to Russian criticism over Turkish sympathy
for charitable groups in solidarity with rebels
fighting in Chechnya.
On the other side of the coin, Turkey wants Russia
to take steps against the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK). Yesterday Gönül said he had
expressed Turkey’s desire to see Russia label the
PKK as a terrorist organization.
Ivanov said in response that the issue was under
consideration in Moscow.
Remaining problems
Putin said in Ankara that it was time for political
dialogue to catch up with the growing economic
cooperation between the two countries and pointed
out that the two countries had a common position on
terrorism and a similar stance on international
issues such as Iraq and the Middle East.
In a sign of the closer political stance, Turkish
officials said they were warm towards Russia’s bid
to get observer status in the 57-nation Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
But despite the bright picture in the economic area,
there are still problems that remain to be resolved.
Prime Minister Erdoğan said yesterday that Turkey
and Russia aimed to boost their bilateral trade
volume to $15 billion in the near future and added
that relations would become more developed than they
are today in the coming years. But he complained
that Turkey was experiencing a deficit in its trade
with Russia stemming primarily from the huge amount
of natural gas purchased through a trans-Black Sea
pipeline called Blue Stream.
Possible remedies to set the trade balance right
were discussed when Putin visited here on Monday,
Erdoğan told his Justice and Development Party (AKP)
deputies in Parliament.
Turkish and Russian officials also discussed
alternative pipelines that would bypass the crowded
straits in the transportation of Russian oil to
Western markets, and Turkish sources said there was
an agreement between the two sides that tanker
traffic through the straits could not continue
unimpeded in the long term.
But there is no agreement on what route is to be
taken. Energy Minister Hilmi Güler said yesterday
that the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline that would traverse
Anatolia from north to south looked more
advantageous for Turkey as compared to a proposed
Trans-Thracian pipeline.
“Talks are continuing on this basis,” he said.
Cyprus
Another issue raised during Putin’s visit was
Moscow’s firm alliance with Greek Cyprus, a stance
that has hampered the forward movement in the
Security Council of a report drafted by U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Russia is one of the five nations that can veto the
report in the 15-nation body. Putin made no explicit
statement on the Russian stance on Cyprus but he
told Turkish officials behind closed doors that he
was “aware of what the realities are.”
Turkish sources said there were signs of a softening
in Russia’s position concerning its veto right in
the Security Council and that Moscow would pursue a
more active policy on Cyprus.
Turkish Daily News report
www.BakuTODAY.net
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