Erdogan’s letter to Putin ‘step in right direction’ — Russian diplomat

Russia’s Foreign Ministry views the letter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with apologies for the shoot down of the Russian bomber in November 2015 as a step in a right direction to normalize bilateral ties, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov told TASS June 28. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin June 27 over the death of Russian SU-24 pilot. Erdogan said that Turkey "shares the pain of downed Su-24 pilot's death with his family" and "sees it as Turkey's pain". Turkey is ready to take all steps required to "relieve the pain and severity of damage" to the deceased Su-24 pilot's family, Erdogan writes in his letter to the Russian president. "In the letter, the Turkish president also says he has always seen Russia as a strategic partner and a friend", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.