Russian FM to visit Turkey next month

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to pay an official visit to Ankara in early July, Russian officials said yesterday. Lavrov's visit, which will be the first senior-level visit from Moscow to Ankara following the election of Dimitry Medvedev as president in March, is likely to take place during the first week of next month, the officials said, adding that the exact dates would be announced soon. While in Ankara, Lavrov is expected to have talks with both President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in addition to his counterpart, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan,.