The foundations of the bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey were laid down in an agreement on bilateral relations in 1992. In 2001 the foreign ministers of both countries signed the Eurasian Cooperation Action Plan. The purpose of the joint declaration signed during then-President Putin's visit to Ankara in December 2004 was specified as a strengthened multidimensional partnership. Turkey adopted 2007 as the Year of Russian Culture, and the Russian Federation marked 2008 as the Year of Turkish Culture, which boosted the cultural relations between the two countries. Russian tourists can obtain visas at border check points before entering Turkey, where there are radio stations broadcasting in Russian, papers published in Russian and schools offering curriculums in the Russian language. Turkey is the favorite destination of many Russian tourists. In 2008, about 3 million Russian tourists visited Turkey. In terms of sending tourists to Turkey, the Russian Federation ranks the second after Germany. However, in May 340,373 Russian tourists visited Turkey, an 11.82 percent decrease compared to the previous year. The share of Russian tourists whose destination was Turkey was 7.12 percent between January and May. This figure was 8.8 percent last year, so there was a 1.68 percent fall.
There is a perfect harmony between two countries with respect to the Black Sea. The cooperation between two countries particularly with respect to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), the Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group (Blackseafor) and Operation Black Sea Harmony are considered models of bilateral cooperation.
Since the 1990s, the volume of trade between the Russian Federation and Turkey has consistently increased and reached $20.7 billion in 2006. In 2007 the trade volume exceeded the $25 billion mark targeted for 2008, reaching $28 billion. In 2008 the Russian Federation became Turkey's biggest trade partner with a trade volume of $38 billion -- $6.5 billion for exports and $31.3 billion for imports. Turkey became the Russia's seventh largest trade partner and the fourth largest market for exports. However, Turkey's bilateral trade deficit exceeded $24 billion in 2008 -- corresponding to 34 percent of its overall foreign trade deficit. The amount of Turkish direct investments in the Russian Federation has risen to more than $6 billion. Russian direct investments in Turkey are expected to be around $4 billion in 2009. The total value of the jobs that Turkish contractors have undertaken in the Russian Federation so far is approximately $30 billion. In 2007 Turkish contractors concluded contracts with a total value of $6 billion in the Russian Federation, this figure can be considered as a record when compared to previous years.
Turkey imports 62 percent of its natural gas and 32 percent of its oil from the Russian Federation. Thus, it can be said the Russian Federation is Turkey's biggest energy partner. By the end of 2008, Turkey had imported 23.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas -- 10.1 billion cubic meters from the Blue Stream pipeline and the rest from the Balkan pipeline. This makes Turkey the second biggest European customer after Germany, importing natural gas in great amounts from the Russian Federation. Turkey's annual oil imports from the Russian Federation range from approximately 7 to 9 million tons -- 9.3 million tons in 2007 and about 7 million tons in 2008.
President Abdullah Gül paid a historic visit to the Russian Federation on Feb. 12-15, which was particularly important in that it was the first Turkish presidential visit to the Russian Federation and it included a visit to the Republic of Tatarstan, which has historical and cultural ties with Turkey, making Gül the first Turkish presidential official visit to this republic. Putin also invited Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Sochi on May 15-16. Moreover, it was rumored that immediately after the Sochi meeting, Putin came to İstanbul to discuss energy matters for a few hours, but this has not been verified. Russian statesmen do not pay frequent visits to Turkey. For this reason, it can be said that Putin's visit to Ankara implies that the two countries will turn a new page on energy matters, including nuclear energy.
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