By Merve Aydogan and Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA

Ankara and Moscow have agreed on the early delivery of Russian S-400 air defense systems to Turkey, the leaders of the two countries said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said they have agreed to shorten the duration of the systems’ delivery, without giving further details.

"We decided to shorten duration of S-400 missiles' delivery [to Turkey] during our meeting with President Erdogan," Putin said.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system with a capacity of carrying three types of missiles capable of destroying targets including ballistic and cruise missiles.

The system can track and engage up to 300 targets at a time and has an altitude ceiling of 27 kilometers (17 miles).

The Turkish president said that the production of the missile systems continued.

During the bilateral meeting, Erdogan and Putin exchanged views on regional matters primarily on Syria.

“In Astana process, de-escalation zones were implemented… Although it is not exactly as we desire, [but] we have substantially prevented civilian casualties in Syria,” Erdogan said.

Tripartite summit

Regarding tomorrow’s summit between Turkey, Russia and Iran, Erdogan said: “In tomorrow’s tripartite summit that is to be held with the attendance of our Iranian counterpart [Hassan Rouhani] as well, we will have opportunity to exchange views on the Astana process in much different way.”

On bilateral relations, Erdogan said Turkey-Russia cooperation has further strengthened despite "efforts to poison it by some circles."

“Our political dialogue is spreading to economic area as well. We had the opportunity to address a wide range of discussion chain in the areas of military, politics, economy, and culture,” Erdogan said. 

“The series of events to be held during culture and tourism year between Turkey and Russia in 2019 has great importance,” he added. 

Erdogan also said the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey has reached 4.7 million people and is expected to reach 6 million next year.

"Our trade volume [with Russia] has surpassed $22 billion dollars with a 32 percent increase, according to our calculations compared to the previous year," he said, referring to years 2016 and 2017. 

“Our goal is to reach $100 billion,” Erdogan added.

Erdogan stressed the significance of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project, of which the foundations were laid on Tuesday, and said it will meet 10 percent of Turkey’s energy needs. 

Russia to boost cooperation on variety of fields

Putin said the cooperation between Turkey and Russia on nuclear energy has shifted to another level with the groundbreaking of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

Noting that the first reactor of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was planned to be operational on the 100th anniversary of Turkish Republic, Putin said Russia is also constructing two undersea pipelines and will build an additional ground gas pipeline as part of TurkStream pipeline project. 

The TurkStream project is a direct pipeline from Russia to Turkey with 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas capacity set aside for Turkey's use while a second line with the same 15.75 billion cubic meter capacity is planned for Europe's needs.

Putin said Russia intends to boost cooperation with Turkey in iron, steel and auto industries, as well as in the field of finance, agriculture, innovation, and science and technology.

The Russian president said the priority in Syria is to provide the territorial integrity and sovereignty to the country and to eliminate the terror nests.

"We are cooperating with Turkey in these terms and will continue cooperation," he said, adding that enhanced Turkey-Russia ties was not only for the benefit of the region but also for the peace and stability of other countries.

Pointing to the increasing trade volume between Russian and Turkey, Putin said: "Russia has become the third export market for Turkey after Germany and China. Turkey has become our seventh basic commercial partner."

Putin said the visa regime between Turkey and Russia was also in the agenda during his meeting with Erdogan.

"We discussed the documents required for visa exemption."