Putin, Erdogan launch new phase of Turkish nuclear power plant

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan have vowed to improve cooperation as they launch construction of a new reactor at Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.

The two leaders each pressed a button on their office desks in Moscow and Ankara in a video link ceremony unveiling the third phase of Akkuyu station’s construction project.

Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear energy firm began building the first of four planned reactors on Turkey’s south coast in 2018. Erdogan hopes to put the plant online by the time Turkey celebrates its centenary as a post-Ottoman republic in 2023.

Putin said he expected the project to “improve the Russian-Turkish partnership in all its facets, helping strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between our countries’ peoples.” Erdogan echoed similar thoughts.