MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The Turkish leadership, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is dedicated to boosting relations with Russia in all areas, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the nuclear fuel loading ceremony at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday.
"Today’s ceremony also shows that the leadership of the Republic of Turkey and the president himself pay great attention to boosting Turkish-Russian relations in all areas. For our part, we certainly support this attitude and we are confident that close cooperation and partnership between Russia and Turkey are mutually beneficial and in line with the core interests of the two countries’ people and governments, and they also promote regional and international stability," Putin stressed.
The Russian president also noted that the creation of a new high-tech industry from scratch made it clear how much the Turkish president was doing for his country, "for its economic growth and for all Turkish citizens."
The Russian leader congratulated Erdogan on the inauguration of the Akkuyu NPP.
Akkuyu is the first nuclear power plant being built in Turkey. The project is being implemented in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement that Russia and Turkey signed in 2010. The nuclear station will house four Russian-designed generation 3+ VVER reactors. Each reactor’s power output will stand at 1,200 MW. Once commissioned and brought to full capacity, the NPP will produce about 35 bln kWh per year. The project is currently being funded completely by Russia.