Turkish, Russian leaders to launch cross-cultural year

ANKARA

Turkish president and his Russian counterpart will meet Monday for the opening ceremony of the Turkey-Russia cross-cultural year, the Russian ambassador to Ankara told Anadolu Agency.

This will be the third meeting of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin in Moscow since the beginning of 2019.

Expressing his happiness over the upcoming event, Aleksei Yerkhov said: "This special year, of course, offers the two countries the opportunity to get to know each other better and to understand each other, to exhibit their rich culture and to get acquainted with the culture of the neighboring country, to be enriched in spiritual and intellectual terms."

Yerkhov said the two presidents will take part in an opening ceremony of the third Turkey-Russia cross-cultural year in the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

The ceremony will be followed with a gala of the opera titled Troy, he said, adding they are very pleased that the event will take place for the first time in Russia.

Erdogan will also attend the eighth High-Level Cooperation Council meeting between the two countries. The meetings are being held annually since 2010, Yerkhov said.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev