Contemporary political ties between Russia and Turkey are based on the 1992 Agreement on the Basic Principles of Relations and a number of intergovernmental cooperation agreements.
An intensive top-level political dialogue has been developing, with Russian and Turkish leaders having held fifteen meetings since December, 2004 (last time Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan during the latter's working visit to Sochi on May 16, 2009).
Turkish President Abdullah Gül's state visit to Russia on February 13-15, 2009 ushered in a new era in bilateral relations, promoting multi-faceted comprehensive cooperation on a broad range of issues and bringing interaction in several specific areas to a brand-new level. Presidents Medvedev and Gül signed a joint declaration on the progress towards a new stage in Russian-Turkish relations and continued development of friendship and multifaceted partnership, expressing thus an intention to develop interaction taking advantage of the accumulated cooperation potential in various areas.
Prime Ministers Putin and Erdoğan have developed stable and confidential relations, with their meetings being particularly business-like and fruitful. They met for negotiations for the eighth time on May 16 in Sochi.
All in all, a considerable development potential has been created in Russian-Turkish relations, with contacts between the leading law-enforcement, security and economic ministries and agencies established. Constant consultations between the two countries' foreign ministries touch on a broad range of issues, with the High-Level Joint Working Group, co-chaired by the foreign ministers, summarizing consultations' results (the working group had its latest meeting on May 22).