Putin Sets $25Bln Goal for Trade With Turkey

The Associated Press

Trade between Russia and Turkey could more than double to $25 billion by 2007 from $10 billion in 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday. "I agree with the forecast that bilateral trade volume could reach $15 billion in 2005 and $25 billion in 2007. I think we can achieve this," Putin told a Moscow gathering with Erdogan and accompanying Turkish businessmen, attended by reporters. Russia is Turkey's second-largest foreign trade partner, with bilateral trade now standing at $10 billion. Compared with the first half of 2003, bilateral trade rose by 60 percent in the first half of 2004, reaching $4.6 billion. Putin said talks would focus on improving cooperation in energy, transport, social welfare, and arms. "There should be opportunities to widen our military-technological cooperation internationally and in the region," Erdogan said. Erdogan also was scheduled to meet with Russian business representatives and attend the opening of a Turkish trade center. Some 600 Turkish business executives accompanied him to Moscow, Erdogan said, and more were set to arrive later in the day. A recently built pipeline carries Russian natural gas beneath the Black Sea to Turkey, which relies on Russia for some two-thirds of its gas. Gazprom is interested in projects for gas storage and more extensive distribution in Turkey. Turkish companies are active in Russia's booming construction, retail and brewing industries, while its Mediterranean resorts are a favorite among richer Russians, whose visits have fostered familiarity between the traditional foes. But Turkey's control over the Bosporus -- the water route that connects the Black Sea and the Mediterranean -- has been a sore point. Turkey says increasing Russian oil tanker traffic through the strait is hazardous, while Russia says delays cost its exporters hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Putin also said that Russia will back efforts by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to end the division of Cyprus, dropping a previous objection. "We do not think that the economic isolation of northern Cypriots is fair," he said.