Erdogan congratulates Putin over re-election

By Enes Kaplan

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin over the phone and congratulated him over presidential election victory.

During their conversation, the two leaders discussed bilateral relations and the trilateral summit of leaders from Turkey, Russia and Iran on Syria expected to be held in April in Istanbul.

Erdogan and Putin also reiterated their determination to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier, Russia’s Central Election Commission announced that Putin won a landslide re-election victory in Sunday’s polls.

Putin scored a record 76.67 percent of the vote with 99.75 percent of ballots counted, easily winning a new six-year term.

He has ruled Russia as either president or premier since 1999.