Erdoğan and Putin Meet at SCO Summit, Signal Further Nuclear Plants Beyond Akkuyu

President Erdoğan met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın also attending. Erdoğan said the Akkuyu nuclear power plant — Turkey's first, built by Russia's Rosatom on the Mediterranean coast, whose four reactors are expected to supply roughly 10% of Turkish electricity — is 'in its final stages,' and that the two countries 'will take steps together to open some new power plants' beyond Akkuyu. Putin called Turkey 'one of our privileged partners' and said Turkey-Russia relations are 'at a much more advanced level today than in any previous period.' The two leaders also touched on tourism (nearly 7 million annual Russian visitors) and energy trade — Turkey imports roughly 70% of its energy needs, with Russian imports worth about $42.4 billion a year, $29.8 billion of it energy.