OREANDA-NEWS  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expects to raise the issue of Ankara's purchase of Russian amphibious aircraft used to extinguish fires at a personal meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Erdogan himself told the Turkish press about this after he returned from the NATO summit in Vilnius.

"God willing, we expect that at a personal meeting with Mr. Putin we will discuss the purchase of several amphibious aircraft available to them, as they have a very significant impact on extinguishing fires," RIA Novosti quoted the Turkish leader as saying.

Erdogan stressed that even two or three such aircraft will make a significant contribution to improving the effectiveness of fighting forest fires in Turkey. In addition, the Turkish president said that the Turkish Disaster Management Department received 100 million liras from the country's authorities to purchase the necessary aviation equipment.