Erdogan congrulates Putin

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday phoned Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin and congratulated him for his success in keeping the leading position with 63.82 percent of the votes after 99 percent of ballots was counted early on Monday.  During the conversation, Putin said that he attached great importance to Turkey and that Russia would continue to exert efforts in order to further improve bilateral relations between the two countries.