HAMBURG, July 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has noted a serious headway made in the area of Syrian settlement and fighting terrorism in the country, particularly thanks to the Turkish leadership.

At a meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg Putin said that "very much has been made recently both to expand bilateral relationship and solve a number of problems of interest for us." "Thanks in no small part to your position, Mr. President, the situation in Syria has been substantially turned around as heavy losses have been inflicted on terrorist groups over this period of time, and the settlement has largely forged ahead," he said to Erdogan on Saturday.

"We highly appreciate your position and the position of all your colleagues, our partners within the negotiation process," Putin added and proposed to discuss the whole range of Russian-Turkish relations at the meeting.

According to Turkish President, the joint efforts of Moscow and Ankara "are a clear example for the peoples of the region and for all countries around the world." "The expectations are really high," Erdogan said, adding that much is being contributed to the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey as well.

The Turkish President also said that he considers the meeting with President Putin within the G20 summit to be very important. "I would like to thank you for the role you have been playing (in the Syrian settlement) from my country and personally from me," Erdogan told Putin.