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Russia sees Turkey as key partner, despite differences on some issues — Russian lawmaker

According to Leonid Slutsky, cooperation between the two countries will expand on infrastructure-related projects, such as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant

MOSCOW, May 29. /TASS/. Turkey is Russia’s key strategic partner, despite certain differences on a number of matters, including the "Ukrainian dossier," a senior Russian lawmaker said on Monday.

"Turkey is our key, strategic partner. We have certain differences, of which there are quite a number, quite a lot in fact. And we have divergent views, rather substantial divergences, on the ‘Ukrainian dossier,’ let’s call it that. But, nevertheless, Turkey has always been and continues to be <…> our strategic partner," Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) International Affairs Committee and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), told a news conference at TASS.

According to the lawmaker, cooperation between the two countries will expand on infrastructure-related projects, such as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, and others. "We hold regular meetings of international commissions, i.e. between my committee and our counterparts in the Turkish parliament. We will continue to do so; this is an ideal mechanism to coordinate approaches to the key issues on the bilateral agenda," Slutsky said.

A runoff presidential election was held in Turkey on May 28. According to preliminary data from the Supreme Election Council, after 99.43% of ballots were counted, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had secured 52.14% of votes cast, while his rival, opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, was supported by 47.86% of voters.