Russian ambassador: Erdogan is a strong reformist

Russian Ambassador in Ankara Vladimir Ivanovskiy said that Turkey had been ranked among influential nations in the world in the last ten years, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a strong reformist. Ivanovskiy, who worked as Consul General of Russia in Istanbul in 1997-1998 and served as anambassador since 2007, said that he followed Turkey very closely during the last 15 years. "Turkey won another lover from Russia,"  said Ivanovskiy before departing from the country. Ivanovskiy stated that he had known Erdogan since he was Istanbul mayor and added, "l considered the prime minister as an active, strong reformist and a big political leader". Underlining that Turkey has developed in every aspect under Erdogan's leadership, Ivanovskiy said that Taksim Gezi Park demonstrations even signalized that Turkish people advanced democratically. Ivanovskiy stated that in parallel with those developments, the relations between Turkey and Russia have also advanced. Pointing out the progress of Turkey during last ten years, Ivanovskiy noted that Turkey became one of the regional powers and added that Turkey was ranked among influential nations and had "the will and potential of being a world power".