Putin congratulates Erdogan on ruling party victory in elections, discusses Syria - Kremlin

MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the victory of the ruling Justice and Development Party at the November 1 extraordinary parliamentary elections, the Kremlin reported. In turn, the Turkish leader once again expressed his condolences over the crash of a Russian passenger airliner in Egypt. Putin and Erdogan also exchanged opinions on the situation in Syria in light of the results of the ministerial meeting of the "support group" in Vienna October 30. The sides discussed certain issues of Russian-Turkish cooperation, including preparation for a regular meeting of a bilateral cooperation council, to be held in December in Russia. Plane crash An A321 passenger jet of Russia’s Kogalymavia air carrier (flight 9268) bound to St. Petersburg crashed on October 31 some 30 minutes after the takeoff from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh. It fell down 100 kilometers south of the administrative center of North Sinai Governorate, the city of Al-Arish. The plane was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members. There were four Ukrainian and one Belarusian nationals among the passengers. None survived. Syria Russia’s Aerospace Forces started delivering pinpoint strikes at facilities of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria on September 30, 2015. The air group comprises over 50 aircraft and helicopters, including Sukhoi Su-24M, Su-25SM and state-of-the-art Su-34 aircraft. Hundreds of terrorist facilities have been hit by Russian aircraft. On October 7, four missile ships of the Russian Navy’s Caspian Flotilla fired 26 Kalibr cruise missiles (NATO codename Sizzler) at militants’ facilities in Syria. On October 8, the Syrian army passed to a large-scale offensive. Russia’s Armed Forces act on a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Russian Federation does not plan to take part in ground operations in Syria. According to UN statistics, fighting between Syrian government troops and militants has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions since its start in 2011. Read more