ISTANBUL- Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin will attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Akkuyu nuclear plant next week, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday.

Turkey's first nuclear plant at Akkuyu is likely to miss its 2023 target start-up date, two people familiar with the matter had told Reuters this month, but Rosatom, which is looking for local partners to take a 49 percent stake in the project, says it is committed to the timetable. 

(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen Editing by Dominic Evans) ((ali.kucukgocmen@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: ali.kucukgocmen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))