Turkey, Russia restored ties and now work jointly - Turkish top diplomat

WASHINGTON, March 22. /TASS/. Turkey and Russia have restored their relations and are now working together to solve regional problems, Turkey’s top diplomat said during his visit to the United States. "We have overcome our differences with Russia. At the moment our ties have been restored and we cooperate in solving a number of regional problems," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, citing Syria and Azerbaijan as areas of successful of cooperation. At the same time, the minister said, Ankara continues to "support the territorial integrity of Georgia and Ukraine, including Crimea." Relations between Moscow and Ankara worsened after Russia’s Su-24 jet taking part in an anti-terrorism operation in Syria was downed by the Turkish Air Force in November 2015 on November 4, 2015. Ankara claimed the bomber violated the Turkish airspace near the Syrian border. The Russian Defense Ministry said the warplane was flying over Syrian territory and had never crossed into Turkey. On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing special economic measures against Turkey. On January 1, 2016, the bulk of sanctions against Turkey came into effect. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the incident in late June 2016 and bilateral relations started to improve. Read more