Putin carried out atomic resuscitation of Erdogan's election campaign
A ceremony to mark the delivery of nuclear fuel to the first power unit of the Akkuyu NPP took place today in Turkey. The construction of the station is carried out by the state corporation Rosatom. 4 blocks, 4800 megawatts of power, are being built simultaneously.
The number of personnel exceeds 30 people, 000 thousand of whom were trained in Russia, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took part in the ceremony via videoconference. Before the start, they had a long telephone conversation, although there were rumors that Erdogan had suffered a heart attack the day before.
Putin emphasized that Turkey will now join the club of countries producing nuclear electricity. Akkuyu is the largest station at the moment.
“This station has a multi-stage safety system; Turkey’s needs will be covered by 10% of nuclear energy production. This project will be useful for nature, there will be no exhaust gases,” Putin emphasized.
He noted that Russia will now supply less gas to Turkey, since nuclear energy is the cheapest.
“If there weren’t a president like Erdogan, it would be difficult to talk about success. Creating a new advanced high-tech industry from scratch is another convincing example of how much you, Mr. Erdogan, are doing for your country. I want to say frankly: you know how to set ambitious goals and confidently move towards their implementation. We support Erdogan and are working towards developing cooperation,” Putin said.
He touched upon other aspects of cooperation between the two countries. In 2022, trade turnover between Russia and Turkey exceeded $62 billion, and it will increase.
In his response, Erdogan, on his own behalf and on behalf of the people of Turkey, thanked Russia and Putin for the construction of the nuclear power plant. Akkuyu is Turkey's largest joint investment with Russia. Erdogan also expressed gratitude to Russia for sending an airmobile hospital to Turkey to provide assistance to earthquake victims. He said he hoped to meet Putin "face to face."
“There is an election context in this event. President Putin, with his participation, will clearly add to the popularity of President Erdogan,” political scientist Marat Bashirov wrote in his tg channel.
“Turkey is becoming a key economic hub for Russia, through which not only projects in the field of parallel imports and natural gas will be implemented, but also the export of electricity. Moreover, in the latter case, we are talking about the sale of high value-added products, which is electricity produced at a nuclear power plant,” says HSE professor Dmitry Evstafiev.
Putin Conducted a Nuclear Revival of Erdogan's Election Campaign