President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, where he was attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of State Summit. Erdoğan said that Türkiye-Russia relations were at a more advanced level today than ever before. Referring to the importance of Russian tourists for Antalya, Erdoğan said that the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant had reached the completion stage and that, following its opening, they would take joint steps toward building new plants as well; he also emphasized cooperation in agriculture and energy. Putin, meanwhile, described Türkiye as one of Russia’s privileged partners in foreign policy and the economy. Putin said that the first unit of Akkuyu would be commissioned this year, noting that the flow of Russian tourists had increased and that nearly 7 million Russian tourists had visited Türkiye last year. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and İbrahim Kalın, head of the National Intelligence Organization, also attended the meeting.
Why it matters
The focus of the meeting shows that Türkiye-Russia relations are not limited to political contacts alone but extend to areas such as energy, tourism and agriculture, which have direct economic implications. While the commissioning of Akkuyu is moving energy cooperation between the two countries into a long-term framework, how the approach to new plants will take shape remains an open issue. The importance of Russian tourists for Antalya also requires developments in political relations to be monitored in terms of tourism revenues and regional economic activity. The presence of senior representatives from the foreign policy and security bureaucracy at the meeting further shows that, alongside energy and tourism, the relationship was addressed within a broader state agenda.