Transcript of the start of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr President,

Allow me to welcome you to Moscow once again. I know that you have held successful talks with the Russian President. We are glad to see you here and continue the dialogue at the seat of the Russian Government.

I'm pleased to note that relations between our countries are actively and continuously developing at the very top level.

Quite recently, during the Davos forum, I had the pleasure of talking with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Please convey my best regards to him.

Our bilateral trade is developing well. Last year, we reached another high level of $32 billion. Russia has become Turkey's first trading partner. Turkey is also one of the leaders in trade with Russia. We have many shared interests and are at work on many joint problems. We are very happy about this because relations with Turkey are our foreign policy priority.

Apart from all that, I'm very glad to see you personally, Mr President. Welcome!

Abdullah Gul: (as translated): I'm very grateful to you. I'm very pleased that during my visit to your country, I had the opportunity to meet you personally. Relations between Turkey and Russia have many aspects and are well developed. Allow me to tell you that you are the architect of these relations. You have made an enormous contribution to their development, and I'm convinced that your government will advance them even more. Prime Minister Erdogan and I personally would like to see you in our country, and invite you to visit Turkey.