Turkey, Russia sign gas pipeline deal

Turkey and Russia have put aside their recent differences over Syria to sign new trade agreement, which will see the construction of a new gas pipeline under the Black Sea.

Putin, who was making  his first visit to Turkey since the downing of a Russian war plane by Turkey, said the two countries could now return to cooperation in all areas and thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the “attention he has devoted to the development of Turkish-Russian relations”.

The centrepiece of the one-day visit was the signing of an agreement on realising the construction of the planned TurkStream gas pipeline to pump Russian gas through two lines under Turkish waters in the Black Sea towards Europe.

After completion in 2019, the pipeline will become the first to be used to transport gas to Turkish consumers and the second to Europe.

The chief executive of Russian gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, said in a statement that the inter-governmental agreement had created the “legal basis” for the project after a previous memorandum of understanding from 2014.

Erdogan also announced that the two sides agreed to speed up a plan for Russia to build it’s first nuclear power plant in Turkey, in Akkuyu on the Mediterranean.

In his speech to the World Energy Congress before their bilateral talks, Erdogan raised the plight of Syrians but made no mention of Russia or the Assad regime.

Both leaders agreed to work together to ensure aid can reach Aleppo. They made no mention of their differences on the Syria conflict or of any breakthrough.