Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Istanbul today for a landmark visit due to focus on resolving differences with Turkey over the 20-month crisis in war-ravaged Syria, AFP has reported.
Putin landed at Istanbul's Ataturk airport and was due to head straight into a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Russian strongman was originally due to travel to Turkey in early October, but the visit was postponed because of tensions over Syria and amid speculation about Putin's health.
Turkey, once an ally of the Damascus regime, has become one of its fiercest critics over the crackdown that has killed more than 40,000 people, according to monitoring groups.
But Moscow remains one of the few allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, routinely blocking resolutions against his regime in the UN Security Council.
The tensions came to a head in October when Turkey intercepted a Syrian plane en route from Moscow to Damascus on suspicion that it had military cargo, drawing an angry response from Russia. Russia also objects to Turkey's request to NATO for the deployment of Patriot missiles near its volatile border with Syria. It has warned that such a move could spark a broader conflict that would draw in the western military alliance.
But Turkey insists the US-made Patriots would be used for purely defensive purposes, and NATO's response is expected this week.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB