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| Putin to have phone conversation with Erdogan on Wednesday – Kremlin | Putin to have phone conversation with Erdogan on Wednesday – Kremlin |
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| President Vladimir Putin will have a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayip Erdogan, on Wednesday – the first since Russia-Turkey relations became strained after last year’s downing of a Russian jet over Syria, the Kremlin reports. | President Vladimir Putin will have a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayip Erdogan, on Wednesday – the first since Russia-Turkey relations became strained after last year’s downing of a Russian jet over Syria, the Kremlin reports. |
| “The phone conversation between President Putin and President Erdogan will take place tomorrow [on Wednesday], initiated by Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. | “The phone conversation between President Putin and President Erdogan will take place tomorrow [on Wednesday], initiated by Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. |
| On Monday, Erdogan sent a letter to President Putin to offer his apologies for the death of a Russian pilot who was killed when his jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border. “The head of the Turkish state expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the relatives of the deceased Russian pilot and said ‘sorry,’” Peskov said. | On Monday, Erdogan sent a letter to President Putin to offer his apologies for the death of a Russian pilot who was killed when his jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border. “The head of the Turkish state expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the relatives of the deceased Russian pilot and said ‘sorry,’” Peskov said. |
| Russian-Turkish ties have seen a dramatic decline since last November when a Russian Su-24M bomber was shot down by a Turkish F16. A pilot died when shot while parachuting to the ground and a marine was killed in action during a rescue mission to save the surviving co-pilot. | |
| The act of aggression prompted a quick response from Moscow, with Russia’s leader calling it “a stab in the back.” Economic sanctions restricting agricultural exports and tourism were imposed on Turkey almost immediately thereafter. | The act of aggression prompted a quick response from Moscow, with Russia’s leader calling it “a stab in the back.” Economic sanctions restricting agricultural exports and tourism were imposed on Turkey almost immediately thereafter. |
| The Kremlin sees Erdogan’s message as an important step forward in bilateral relations, but there is still much to be done, according to Peskov. | |
| “Indeed, we will have to make more than one step towards each other,” he said. “There’s no reason to believe everything would be settled within several days, but we will work on this.” | |
| He did not elaborate on whether President Putin would reply to Erdogan’s letter, but confirmed that the Turkish leader had literally used the word “sorry” without “philological intricacies.” | |
| Both Erdogan's letter and the upcoming telephone conversation follow nearly eight months of heightened tensions between Moscow and Ankara. Russia demanded that Turkey apologize over the aircraft incident, reimburse the costs and bring to justice those involved in killing of the pilot. Ankara has long refused to accede to the demands, citing various reasons as an excuse. | |
| In the meantime, the Turkish president has made several attempts to contact Putin. In the most recent case in June, Erdogan congratulated "all Russians on Russia Day" expressing hope "that the relations between Russia and Turkey will rise to the deserved level." | |
| Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also wrote a separate letter to his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, saying, “In the near future, cooperation and relations between the two countries will reach a level that is essential for the common interests of our peoples.” | |
| On Tuesday, Yildirim told reporters in the parliament that Ankara will not reimburse Russia for the downed jet. A day earlier, however, he said Turkey is ready to pay compensation "if necessary," claiming both Moscow and Ankara "will put this incident behind us and continue on our path." |