Turkey, Russia accelerate cooperation

Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, was set to arrive in Istanbul yesterday for a two-day visit to participate in a high-level cooperation council between Turkey and Russia. Lavrov will attend the first meeting of the Turkish-Russian Joint Strategic Planning Group, which is laying the groundwork for the countries' High-Level Cooperation Council meeting set to be held in Moscow in March. "Since Turkey and Russia have elections this year, we should resolve any problems before then," Russian Ambassador to Ankara Vladimir Ivanovskiy said in a recent interview with Turkish daily Cumhuriyet. The High-Level Cooperation Council is an intergovernmental cooperation mechanism that lays the foundation for the strategic partnership of Turkey and Russia. Lavrov will meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during his stay in Turkey to exchange views on recent developments in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Cyprus, the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan, along with bilateral relations. Iran will be a major topic in the discussions.