SOCHI, September 4. /TASS/. Turkey will continue developing relations with Russia in the area of natural gas supplies to the republic, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said before the start of the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Sochi, adding that Ankara considers those relations very important.

"We have very important relations with Russia in the area of energy, particularly in the natural gas sector. We believe that we will continue developing those relations," he said.

Heads of Turkish and Russian central banks will also hold talks for discussing payments in Russian rubles and Turkish liras within bilateral trade, Erdogan added. "I consider the meeting between heads of our central banks very important for bilateral relations from the viewpoint of steps to [trade] in national currencies," he said.