Erdogan and Putin co-chair Turkey-Russia high level cooperation council meeting

The third Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council meeting, co-chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was held at the Prime Ministry Office at Dolmabahce Palace on Monday in Istanbul. As part of the council meeting, 11 significant agreements were signed. Speaking in a joint conference with Putin, Erdogan said that trade relations with Russia had increased seven times since his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power. "Russia is currently Turkey's second largest trade partner. Our trade volume with this country was $30 billion in 2011 and has been $24 billion between January and September of 2013. We expect this amount to reach $35 billion by the end of the year." Touching upon Turkish construction companies operating in Russia, Erdogan said that those companies have taken on 1,400 projects worth $40 billion in Russia. Erdogan also praised Russia's $700 million capital flow to Turkey for the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project, but expressed hope increase the figure to $800 million. Erdogan added that they have also found the opportunity of evaluating the situation in the Middle East, mainly in Syria, and thanked the Russian Federation for his support in the approval of Palestine's status by the UN General Assembly. "We hope the conflicts and bloodshed in Syria are ended as soon as possible. Our foreign ministers have been exerting efforts to obtain a result there. It's vitally important for our country, the region and the international community. Our meeting has confirmed once again that our Russian friends and we hope to achieve this," Erdogan added. For his part, Putin said both Russia and Turkey shared the same goals for the future of Syria, but differed on methods on how to reach these goals. Stating that he understands Turkey's concerns about its border security after Syrian shells hit Turkish territory in recent months, Putin said in reference to Turkey's request for deployment of NATO Patriot missiles that it was normal for any country to take measures in response to violations of its borders but warned that such a deployment could escalate fears of a wider conflict. Putin also expressed hope that trade volume between the two countries would reach $100 billion. "We will finance the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project, which is a huge one totaling $20 billion. Some part of the financing will be used to establish new business fields in Turkey," Putin said, adding that more than 100 Turkish students receive education in Russia with regard to nuclear energy and 3.5 million Russian tourists have visited Turkey, which are the indication of Russia's confidence in Turkey. Following the council meeting, Putin and the accompanying departed from Istanbul on Monday.