Turkish President Erdogan to meet Putin in Russia

TIL Desk/World/ Saint Petersburg-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan jets into Russia today for his first meeting with counterpart Vladimir Putin since the two strongmen leaders began healing a bitter feud over Ankara’s downing of a Russian warplane.

Erdogan’s visit to Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersburg is also his first foreign trip since the failed coup against him last month that sparked a purge of opponents and cast a shadow over Turkey’s relations with the West.

“This visit seems to me a new milestone in bilateral relations, beginning with a clean slate, and I personally, with all my heart and on behalf of the Turkish nation salute Mr Putin and all Russians,” Erdogan said in an interview with Russian state media.