Turkish President Erdoğan to visit Russia on Aug 9, says minister

ANKARA

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit Russia on Aug. 9 for his first face to face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Moscow and Ankara started to mend ties damaged by the downing of a Russian jet last year, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said.“The ambassador has informed us that our president [Erdoğan] has confirmed that he will be in Saint Petersburg [on Aug. 9],”state-run Anadolu Agency reported Şimşek as saying on July 26 in Moscow, where he and two other ministers had gone to meet their Russian counterparts as part of moves to restore broken economic relations between the countries.Erdoğan’s visit to Russia will mark the first such meeting as part of mutual efforts to normalize bilateral ties after months of tension due to the downing of a Russian warplane by the Turkish Air Forces in November.It will also be Erdoğan’s first announced trip abroad since the failed military coup attempt in Turkey on the night of July 15.Putin called Erdoğan on July 17, a day after security forces quashed a coup attempt staged by a group of high-ranking officers within the army. He reportedly told the Turkish president that “Russia found anti-constitutional acts and violence unacceptable and is hoping for the restoration of order and stability in Turkey.”It was during this phone call that the two leaders agreed to meet in person soon.