Putin, Erdogan To Meet In Sochi On November 13

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin after a joint press conference in Ankara in September.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 13 in Sochi, Russia, the Kremlin says.

Putin's press service said on November 10 that Putin and Erdogan plan to discuss regional and international issues including the "joint fight against terrorism" and the efforts to end the more than six-year war in Syria, Turkey's southern neighbor.

They are also expected to discuss prospects for increasing bilateral trade and cooperation in the energy sector, it said.

Russia has given crucial military and diplomatic backing to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government throughout the war, which began with a government crackdown on protesters and has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Turkey supports rebels who want to oust Assad.

Relation between Russia and Turkey soured badly after Turkish air force jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015, but Putin and Erdogan have taken steps to mend ties since then.

Along with Iran, they have sponsored a series of negotiations on the Syria conflict in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, and Reuters