Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 11 October 2016: Russia and Turkey sign Turkstream gas deal

On Monday in Istanbul, Turkey and Russia signed a contract to begin construction on a major undersea gas pipeline. The TurkStream will detour some of Russia's gas around Ukraine. The agreement will implement two pipelines, Which will be constructed under the bed of the Black Sea and will be directed to Turkey as well as the rest of Europe. The pipelines will be controlled and managed by Gazprom, a Russian state-owned gas monopoly. In addition, the two countries have agreed to move past tensions over Syria and work toward military and intelligence cooperation on the crisis. Although there are still strained relations between the two countries, Putin and Erdogan agreed to come to a comprise in order to find a solution of the humanitarian crisis. The hospitable relations come a little less than a year after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border.