ANKARA, April 6. /TASS/. Turkey and Russia need each other and cooperation between them helps promote stability and economic development in the surrounding region, Turkish presidential candidate Sinan Ogan told TASS on Thursday.

"We view Russia and Turkey as two countries that need each other. Russia is just as indispensable for Turkey as Turkey is for Russia. Turkish-Russian relations were the subject of my Ph.D. dissertation, which I worked on in Russia; I wrote it in Russian. I am a presidential candidate who is very familiar with the set of issues pertaining to [our] bilateral ties; I closely monitor these issues and consider them of critical importance," said Ogan, who defended his dissertation at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University).

"By interacting bilaterally and multilaterally, we can better understand each other as neighbors, and therefore resolve the existing regional problems more effectively, facilitating the region’s stability and economic development," he stressed.

The 55-year-old Ogan is a former member of Turkey’s parliament and the founder of the Center for International Relations and Strategic Analysis (TURKSAM). He is running in Turkey’s presidential election as the nominee of the ATA Alliance (Ancestral Alliance).