President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Sochi. The two leaders discussed many issues from the tension in Idlib to the military-technical cooperation, from economic ties to natural gas supply. “The steps we take together regarding Syria carry great importance. The peace there is dependent on Turkey-Russia ties,” said Erdogan at the meeting. A potential purchase of more Russian S-400 missile defense batteries was on the agenda too. Erdogan also told Putin that he wanted to discuss further defense cooperation regardless of the U.S.’ objections.
Russian leader Putin said bilateral foreign trade volume nearly rose by 50% in the first nine months of the year, while mutual investments continue to increase. Turkish investments in Russia totals USD 1.5bn and Russian investments in Turkey reached USD 6.5bn.
President Erdogan told New York Times why Turkey purchased S-400 missile defense batteries. “If the Americans sold Turkey a Patriot missile defense system, Turkey wouldn’t have had to buy S-400s,” said Erdogan. “Turkey has long U.S. ties. This will be reinforced and has to be protected,” he added.
These may sound optimistic but the outlook of the money market is still negative. USD/TRY, which still shows an upward trend, is traded at 8.89 this morning.
DAILY AGENDA
The country’s exports surged by 51.9% to USD 18.9bn and imports rose by 23.6% to USD 23.1bn in August, compared to the same month of the previous year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
The Central Bank will release the Summary of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting (PPK) held on September 23 (2.00 pm).
The Central Bank and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) will release weekly money and banking statistics (2.30 pm).
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