Turkey's foreign minister pointed to the strength of cooperation with Russia and Iran

Turkey's cooperation with Russia and Iran has continued even in the most difficult situations. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said this in an interview on CNN Türk's YouTube channel on January 7.

"Our cooperation with Russia, as you know, has continued in the most difficult moments. We are a mature state. <...> We are not going down the path of 'all or nothing'. <...> In Syria, we were actors on both sides of a huge crisis," he commented.

According to Fidan, cooperation with Russia and Iran is an example of mature foreign policy behavior that very few countries are capable of.

"We continue our good neighborly relations and cooperation with Russia and Iran, and you know about Russian leader Vladimir Putin 's relationship with our president. We continue to move forward. This is really mature foreign policy behavior that very few countries are capable of," he concluded.

Earlier, Putin discussed improving the efficiency of trade and economic cooperation during a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 24, 2024. The leaders of the countries touched upon a number of international topics during the conversation.

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.

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.

On June 10, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu reaffirmed the two countries' intention to develop cooperation in international and regional security, as well as to strengthen the strategic bilateral partnership based on equality.