“I hope that close cooperation between Russia and Turkey on Syria will help make a significant contribution to the implementation of the decisions made by the international community,” Lavrov said after talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
He added that the political process is making no headway at the moment.
“At a time when our colleagues from the United Nations, who were tasked with conducting inclusive intra-Syrian talks, cannot do this for some reasons, we cannot wait forever. Syria’s future must be determined by Syrian people. Russia and Turkey by all means contribute to the process of creating necessary conditions for an inclusive dialogue,” Lavrov added.
"Of course, we talked in detail about our bilateral relations. We reiterated mutual interest in their progressive normalization in accordance with the agreements of Russia's and Turkey's presidents. We also reviewed the preparations for the upcoming High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council meeting co-chaired by President Vladimir Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Lavrov said.
Speaking about the development of bilateral relations, the Turkish official added that Ankara considers the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project to be strategically important for the country.
"Regarding the Akkuyu NPP construction, it is a very important strategic project of Russia and Turkey and we will do everything possible to ensure it is successfully implemented," Cavusoglu said after talks with Lavrov.
Russia and Turkey signed an agreement to construct and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant at the Akkuyu site in the southern Turkish province of Mersin in May 2010. The plant is expected to produce about 35 billion kilowatt-hours per year.
"This issue was discussed immediately after the incident between our representatives at various levels. There is an understanding that Russia has nothing to do with it, as well as Syria and its Air Forces," Lavrov said following a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
On November 24, Turkish media reported that three Turkish soldiers had been killed near Syria's city of Al Bab in an Daesh attack. Later, Turkey's General Staff confirmed the death of three servicemen claiming that the attack was carried out by Syrian government jets.
