Russia's Medvedev to visit Turkey next week

President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Turkey next week, the Kremlin said on Thursday, on a trip that will also see him making a landmark visit to neighboring Syria.

"Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Turkey on an official visit on May 11-12," the Kremlin said in a statement. The main event of the Russian-Turkish summit will be the first meeting of a new council for higher cooperation headed by Medvedev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Kremlin said.

Russia is one of Turkey's top trading partners and its main gas supplier, accounting for about 60% of the country's gas imports. Russia wants to build a section of its key South Stream pipeline through Turkey's portion of the Black Sea to create a new route for Russian gas to Europe that will by-pass Ukraine.

Turkey, which supports the rival EU-backed Nabucco pipeline, has agreed to allow Moscow to start surveys in its territorial waters in the Black Sea for South Stream. On May 10-11, Medvedev will travel to Turkey after a two-day trip to Syria, which would be the first ever visit to the Arab country by any Russian or Soviet head of state.


/Hurriyet Daily News/