Turkish parliament speaker meets with Russian president in Moscow

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus on Wednesday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

After the meeting, on X, Kurtulmus expressed his gratitude to Putin for his courtesy, voicing hope that the meeting would further strengthen ties between Ankara and Moscow.

Valentina Matviyenko, chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council, was also present at the meeting, according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Putin expressed his satisfaction, saying: "We are very pleased that our relations with the Republic of Türkiye are developing in all areas, including parliamentary ones."

Citing his meeting this July with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Astana, he said, "We will see each other again in Kazan in October, at the BRICS summit, and we have a separate meeting planned at the BRICS summit," referring to the BRICS bloc, originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, along with several new members who joined this year.

He stressed the success of relations between Türkiye and Russia across various sectors.

"I would like to note that relations between Türkiye and Russia are developing very successfully in almost all areas: in the economy, in the social sphere, and through the Foreign Ministry. In general, we are good neighbors and work for the benefit of our peoples, our countries, and in general, everything is working out for us," he said.

Putin added that there are certain issues requiring special attention and stated that they would exchange views on all areas during the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Kurtulmus delivered a wide-ranging speech to the Federation Council, Russia's upper legislative chamber, touching on regional conflicts, bilateral relations, and global governance reform.

On Monday, he traveled to Russia for an official four-day visit at the invitation of the head of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko.