Turkish prime minister continues visit to Tatarstan

KAZAN, the Republic of Tatarstan, March 17 (Itar-Tass) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is staying in Kazan as part of his business trip to Russia will visit the Kazan University on Thursday. He will meet Ildar Gulmutdinov, the minister of education and science of the Republic of Tatarstan, the University directors, professors and students.
The premier is also supposed to meet Turkish students who study in
Tatarstan.
Rustam Minnikhanov, the president of Tatarstan, will accompany Recep Erdogan during his visit to the University.
The Turkish prime minister will visit the Kazan Kremlin protected by UNESCO. A mosque and an Orthodox church stand in its territory in several meters from each. Both the mosque and the church are functioning. They symbolize the long-standing friendship and unity of peoples and religions in Tatarstan. The Turkish guest will see the Kul Sharif mosque. Its construction was timed to coincide with the millennium anniversary of the foundation of the city of Kazan. It opened in 2005. Erdogan will also pay a visit to the 17th-century Annunciation Cathedral.
The Turkish prime minister will meet the ex-president of Tatarstan, Mintimer Shaimiyev. He will get acquainted with projects of renovation of federal historical monuments on the Volga River: the island town of Sviyazhsk founded in the 16h century and the Bolgar settlement. The capital of Volzhskaya Bulgaria was the first place in Russia to adopt Islam in 922.
Recep Erdogan and the accompanying delegation will leave for Turkey on Thursday afternoon.