Erdoğan to meet Putin in Russia on August 9

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are to meet in St, Petersburg, Russia, on August 9, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek said.

Şimşek's words came during a press conference with Russian Deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich in the Russian capital of Moscow.

"Russia is not only a neighbor, but also a strategic partner of Turkey. We are hoping to improve our relations and make it even better than it was before the jet crisis of November 24," Şimşek said.

Şimşek also said necessary steps are being done and additional security measures are being taken for charter flights between Turkey and Russia to resume.

Turkish Deputy PM also thanked Russia for its support over the coup bid that Turkey witnessed on July 15.

Russia's Dvorkovich said that Turkey and Russia have the intention to improve the bilateral relations.

The relation between Turkey and Russia was strained over the downing of a Russian jet which violated Turkish airspace on November 24.

In June, Erdoğan expressed his sorrow over the jet downing incident, which became the milestone of the reconstruction of the bilateral relations.

On June 30, Russia's Transport Ministry said it had started implementing a Russian government order to lift the ban on charter flights to Turkey.

On June 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to end Russia's ban on tourism to Turkey following talks over the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Despite the fact that the first flight from Russia to Turkey, which was supposed to take off on July 7, was cancelled due to not obtaining a permit for the flight; both Turkish and Russian authorities are putting all their efforts into the process to be finalized positively to resume charter flights as soon as possible.