Erdogan called himself and Putin the world's only remaining leaders

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin the only remaining leaders in the world. He said this on December 8 during the "Meet the Youth" program.

"Currently, there are only two [experienced] leaders left in the world. There is me and Vladimir Putin. I am not saying this because I am me <...> And we want our dialog to continue. It's important to continue the policy here. Here, for example, after the departure of [Chancellor] Angela Merkel, politics ended in Germany," he said, broadcast on the Justice and Development Party's YouTube channel.

He noted that it is his and Putin's long experience in politics that gives him and Putin a special place in solving international problems.

Earlier, on December 3, during a phone conversation, Putin and Erdogan discussed the situation in Syria. The leaders of the countries also touched upon issues of further development of mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Turkey with a focus on trade, economic and energy components, the Kremlin said.

Before that, on October 23, Putin and Erdogan held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan. According to the Russian president, Russian-Turkish relations are good-neighborly and constructive in nature, based on years of cooperation in various fields, emphasizing the importance of constant dialogue on bilateral and international issues.

Meanwhile, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on September 24 that Russia considers Turkey a good neighbor, an important partner and values its relations with it. The dialog between Moscow and Ankara is developing on the basis of equality, mutual respect and balance of interests.