The presidents of Russia and Turkey say their recent meeting in Moscow produced encouraging results in diplomatic, trade and economic sectors and paved the way for further bilateral cooperation. The event was of special importance, as it marked the resumption of the High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council meetings for the first time since Turkey downed a Russian jet in late 2015.
The March 10 meeting was largely hailed as a success in the Russian and Turkish government-owned press. Sergey Zheleznyak, of the United Russia Party and a member of the Russian Duma Foreign Relations Committee, said the event exemplifies the “political wisdom” of Russia-Turkey relations. Semyon Bagdasarov, director of the Moscow-based Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia and a popular political commentator on Russian TV, was among a handful of skeptics, saying, “I’m always alert when people are talking about yet-another 'historical visit,' since it tends to end up badly.”
