Turkish Football Federation confirms talks on friendly match with Russia

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) is holding talks with the Russian Football Union (RFU) on the organization of a friendly match between the two national teams, TFF spokesman Turker Tozar told TASS on Thursday. Tozar said the talks on the match are underway, however, he added it was impossible to say at the moment when and where the game would be held. The news about the possible football friendly were reported earlier in the day by the Milliyet online daily. According to the daily, the game would take place on August 31. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to invite Russian leader Vladimir Putin to attend the game during their meeting in St. Petersburg, scheduled for August 9. The daily also reported that the match was aimed at restoring relations between the two countries. On June 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a message in which he apologized for the downed Su-24 plane and "underscored readiness to do everything possible for restoration of the traditionally friendly relations between Turkey and Russia." On June 29, the two presidents had a telephone conversation - first in the past seven months, where they agreed to consider a meeting. After the conversation, Putin ordered the government to begin discussions with Ankara for resuming cooperation in trade and other spheres. Read more