Turkey, Russia to jointly work on space program, building warships

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced his decision to work with Russia in the field of space exploration and the production of warships, submarines and jet engines.

Speaking to journalists after the much-anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the town of Sochi, Erdogan revealed that “Putin would like to work with Turkey in space. Our teams will study this issue and we will create a roadmap.” He explained that “by creating one platform on the sea and another on land, we can jointly work on rocket firing tests to space.”

They also agreed to work on constructing warships and jet engines, adding that “we will, God willing, even take joint steps on submarines.”

The decision to jointly work on such projects also extends to the field of nuclear energy, with Erdogan saying that “we discussed steps to build a second and third nuclear reactor.” The first one – the Akkuyu nuclear reactor – has already been built with the help of Russia in southern Turkey.

READ: What’s new about the Putin-Erdogan summit?

The meeting between the two leaders has been long-awaited by many, particularly in view of the deteriorating situation in the north-western Syrian province of Idlib where Russian strikes have hit civilian areas and camps to assist the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

Those attacks have increased in recent months despite the ceasefire deal struck by Ankara and Moscow in March last year. That status quo of cooperation and restraint between Russian and Turkish forces in the area is reportedly set to continue and has not changed after the meeting.

“Of course some problems occur in the areas where we provide security in Idlib,” Erdogan stated. “We reached a consensus to resolve these issues with phone diplomacy between the leaders, foreign ministers, defence ministers, and joint work by the respective intelligence agencies.”

Following the meeting, however, there was a state of cautious calm reported in north-west Syria as the sky was clear of Russian aircraft.

READ: With a new offensive on the horizon, Idlib is the Gaza of Syria