Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/713415
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 AUGUST 2016 RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counter- part Recep Tay yip Erdogan held a clear-the-air summit in St Pe- tersburg on Tuesday, the first time the pair have met since they fell out over the Russian fighter jet downed by the Turk- ish air force last November. After more than three hours of talks, the two leaders promised to return their economic rela- tions to "pre-crisis" levels and attempt to put the bad blood of the past nine months behind them. In his first foreign visit since an attempted coup last month, Erdogan thanked Putin, saying a call from the Russian leader after the coup "meant a lot psy- chologically." "Your call straight after the coup was very pleasing for me and our leadership and our peo- ple," said the Turkish president, who referred to Putin as "my dear friend." He added "the Moscow-Ankara friendship axis will be restored." Following the coup, Erdogan has launched a far-reaching purge of the armed forces and other state institutions. Western leaders have criticised Turkey for the crackdown in the aftermath of the coup, and for suggestions by Erdogan that the death penalty could be reintro- duced. Erdogan has been strongly crit- ical of the EU and US response to the coup attempt, and there is a sense that Putin may have seen an opportunity to provide a sup- portive shoulder for the Turkish leader, despite the rancour of the past months. On his part, Putin said Russian trade sanctions on Turkey would be phased out "step by step". "The priority is to get back to the pre-crisis level of co-opera- tion," Putin said, adding "I want to express the hope that under your leadership the Turkish peo- ple will cope with this problem [the coup's aftermath] and that order and constitutional legality will be restored." The Russian president made clear in his remarks just before the meeting on Tuesday after- noon that Erdogan's visit "de- spite the really complex domes- tic political situation" in Turkey "shows we all want to restart our dialogue and restore our rela- tions". He said that their talks would cover "the whole range of our relations...including restor- ing economic ties, combating terrorism". A thaw in relations between the two countries would appear to suit both men. While Putin will not seemingly miss an op- portunity to f lex his political muscle and cause Western na- tions to fret over his intentions, Erdogan may also hope that turning to Russia may give him some leverage in other compli- cated matters with Europe and beyond. On the Syria conf lict Putin – who actively supports Syrian president Bashar al-Assad - ac- knowledged big differences with Erdogan, but said "we will look for solutions". Despite this, a full rapproche- ment will not come easy given the full breakdown in relations between Russia and Turkey last year. In November, Turkey shot down a fighter jet, after what it said were multiple warnings to get out of Turkish airspace. Rus- sia insisted the plane remained inside Syrian airspace, where it was f lying missions in support of President Bashar al-Assad 's regime. One of the pilots died, as well as a member of a rescue mission. The war of words over the downed Russian jet delivered a big blow to trade. Turkey's ex- ports to Russia in the first half of this year fell to $737 million - a 60.5% slump compared to the same period last year. News Erdogan and Putin meet to 'reset' frosty relationship Russian president Vladimir Putin (right) held talks in St Petersburg with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan