President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has
expressed his “regret and sorrow” to Russian President
Vladimir Putin in a letter addressing the downing of a Russian jet and
the killing of two Russian pilots
in 2015, expressing his desire to restore bilateral ties, the Turkish and Russian presidencies
have said.
The Kremlin said on June 27 that Putin received a letter from Erdoğan that was
later confirmed by the Turkish presidency that said Ankara and Moscow had “agreed to take necessary steps
to improve the relationship.”
“I want to once again express my sympathy and deep condolences to the family of
the Russian pilot who died and I say: ‘I’m sorry,’” Erdoğan
said in the letter, according to the Kremlin.
“The letter states, in particular, that Russia is a friend to Turkey and a strategic partner,
with whom Turkish authorities would not wish to spoil relations,” it said,
adding Erdoğan “expressed his desire to resolve the situation connected to the
downing of a Russian military aircraft.” The Kremlin said Erdoğan also said
Turkey was ready to react together with Russia against the crisis in the region and fight
terrorism.
In related news, it was also announced that Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt
Çavuşoğlu, will go to Sochi on July 1 to attend a regional summit where he
could also meet with his Russian counterpart.
‘Sorry’ or ‘apology?’
The letter was confirmed by Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy adviser, İbrahim
Kalın, later in the day through a statement. Kalın said Erdoğan expressed his
deep sorrow over the downing of the Russian warplane and extended his condolences to the
families of the pilots. Kalın said Erdoğan wrote “I am sorry” in the letter
although the Kremlin version cited the Turkish president as saying “I
apologize.”
The letter follows a series of goodwill gestures from Turkey to Russia in a bid to normalize the bilateral relationship
that has been severely hit due to heavy trade and tourism sanctions imposed by
Moscow.
Earlier in the day, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım heralded “good
developments” with Russia as he said they would be announced in the near
future. At a press conference he held to inform the public about the agreement
reached with Israel, he also heralded “good developments” that will soon to be
announced as part of efforts to reconcile with Russia.
“Both the Turkish and Russian people want an end to this crisis. They both
believe [this crisis] is nonsense. What falls on us as governments is to meet
this expectation of our peoples without delay. There are good developments in
this direction and we’ll soon announce them to our people,” Yıldırım told
reporters on June 27.
FM goes to Russia
Another positive sign in the prospective normalization of Ankara-Moscow ties is
the confirmation of Çavuşoğlu’s attendance in a regional summit in Sochi upon
the invitation of the Russian government.
Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed Çavuşoğlu’s participation in a ministerial
summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) that will take place
in Sochi between June 29 and July 1, during which he could conduct a separate
meeting with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Ministers from 11 member countries will attend a session on July 1.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry, however, has not yet officially announced
Çavuşoğlu’s participation to the BSEC.
Çavuşoğlu and Lavrov held their last face-to-face meeting in Belgrade on Dec. 4, 2015,
immediately after the incident but could not succeed in mending ties. Neither
Turkish nor Russian diplomatic sources were in a position to confirm
another Çavuşoğlu-Lavrov meeting on the sidelines of the BSEC meeting in
Sochi.
Russia imposed heavy sanctions Turkey after its jet was shot down and two
pilots were killed. Turkey, on the other hand, sought to reduce the tension
with Russia and offered an olive tree after the change of
government under Yıldırım.
Russia to issue work permits for Turks
“We are observing some signs of a softening of the relationship following
letters sent to the Russian authorities from our president and prime
minister,” Kurtulmuş told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting on June
27.
Erdoğan and Yıldırm sent congratulatory letters to their counterparts, Vladimir
Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, to mark the occasion of Russia’s national holiday on
June 12.
Kurtulmuş said one positive signal was given after this by the Russian government, which
re-installed working permits for Turkish nationals to be recruited by Turkish
companies operating in Russia.
Moscow had previously announced that it would no longer issue working permits
for Turkish nationals to be employed by Turkish companies in Russia as part of a comprehensive package of sanctions
in reaction to the jet crisis. Russia has repeatedly said Turkey must officially
apologize and pay compensation over the downing of the jet and the killing two
of its pilots in order to restore ties.
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