Russia: Putin praises 'developing' relations at meeting with Turkey's Erdogan

Russian President Vladimir Putin received his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Moscow to discuss about the bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey, after attending the opening of Moscow's Cathedral Mosque. Both leaders praised the development of ties between the two nations, with Erdogan specifically citing the last ten years as a good period of growth. Vladimir Putin said he was "satisfied" with the bilateral contacts in the economic sphere, despite the "well-known decrease" in trade, "caused by some objective circumstances." Nevertheless, he pointed out that Russia "remains the second-biggest trade and economic Turkish partner." As for Erdogan, he also spoke of "some negative moments on the international agenda" which have affected the trade turnover, but now he sees a "positive tendency." Prominent Muslim leaders travelled to Moscow for the opening ceremony including the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas. The mosque, also known as Moscow Jum'ah Mosque and Moscow Central Mosque, was demolished four years ago and has been rebuilt to accommodate 10,000 people. After the reopening, held on the eve of Eid al-Adha (known in Russia as Kurban Bairam), the masjid has become a new complex 20 times larger than its predecessor at 19,000 square meters (204,500 square feet).