Russian Undersecretary Burrarov at ORSAM

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The undersecretary of Russian Federation Ankara Embassy, Andrey V. Burrarov and Head of the Foreign Policy Department, Artur Lyukmanov paid a visit to ORSAM on April 15, 2009. At the meeting with the ORSAM experts, Burrarov eloborated on political, military, cultural and economic dimensions of Russian-Turkish relations and responded to the questions of the ORSAM experts regarding Russia’s regional policies.

Pointing out to the fact that RF-Turkey relations, especially in economic aspects have been considerably improved in the last 5-6 years, Burrarov notified according to figures by RF, bilateral trade volume by 2008 is 34 billion dollars and 40 billion dollars according to the figures of Turkey. Recalling Turkey is the second biggest natural gas purchaser of RF, he maintained 24 billion cubic meters of natural gas dispatched to Turkey via Transbalkan and Blue Stream pipelines last year.

Railway Connection on the AZAK-Samsun Line

Burrarov explained talks at delegational-level were being held regarding the transportation services between Ankara and Moscow and there were attempts to establish a railway connection linked by ferryboats at the Black Sea between Port Kavkaz and Samsun. Underlining one of the most dynamic areas in RF-Turkey relations is tourism sector, Burrarov said 3 million tourists from RF visited Turkey in 2008, while the number of tourists visiting RF was about ten thousand. Burrarov stated the Russian investments in Turkey amount to 6 billion dollars and that Lukoil and Gazprom in particular have detected CAZİP areas of investment in Turkey. Burrarovindicated the talks between Turkey and RF on Blue Stream-2 project are yet to finalize and stated if this project is materialized, it could affect the region significantly.

Intensive Cooperation between the Maritime Forces

Burrarov reiterated one of the important areas of cooperation of RF with Turkey is Black Sea and highly intensive cooperation is witnessed here through media such as Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation, BLACKSEAFORE and Blacksea Harmony Project. Underlining that there is a special type of cooperation between maritime forces of RF and Turkey, Burrarov said, “Our maritime forces are in constant contact with one another. Cooperation among the soldiers is of special importance in terms of improving the security atmosphere. In the period ahead, important visits will be paid in this regard.”

By the way, upon a question, he stressed that RF advocates territorial integrity for Iraq.

Russian Language is Taught at 16 Universities in Turkey

Burrarov notified that the number of institutions applying to the Ankara embassies to teach Russian in Turkey increases day by day. Stating there are already several departments and platforms of Russian language, Burrarov said that means thousands of Turkish citizens learn Russian which is of utmost importance in terms of cementing the bilateral relations.

“A Possible Train Crash in the RF-Turkey Relations must be Avoided”

ORSAM president Hasan Kanbolat also pointed out that in spite of the dynamism in the bilateral relations; some problems have started to occupy the agenda more often. Implying that the gap in the RF-Turkey trade volume has grown larger against Turkey and employment opportunities offered to Turkish entrepreneurs in Russia have started to diminish, Kanbolat highlighted that the problem of not listing PKK as a terrorist organization has yet to be settled and the Russian “image” in Turkey has not been healed in the real sense. He went on to say: “a train crash is imminent should the relations not reformed. The problems which are a strain on the relations with Russia have been disregarded recently due to the problematic relations of Turkey with the West. However, this comfortable state may not prevail longer. Thus, effort should be exerted to find how to settle these problems.” For this, Kanbolat recommended that a joint effort to reactivated the Eurasia Action Plan signed between Turkey and RF in 2001 and embracing a broad area from Mediterranean to Middle East