Putin: Russia’s relations with Turkey fully recovered

Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed on Wednesday that Turkey-Russia relations had been fully restored since November 2015, when Turkey shot down a Russian military jet over airspace violation.
According to Anadolu Agency, the announcement came during a joint news conference between the two leaders, who met in Russia’s coastal town of Sochi to discuss bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues.
President Putin said that Russia’s relations with Turkey had fully recovered and the trade volume had stopped falling. “Our relations have been tested in the recent past. I can say that Russia-Turkey normalization period is now complete. We are getting back to a normal cooperative partnership,” Putin said.
President Erdogan said Turkey and Russia were “beyond normalization” and entering “a new phase,” adding both countries were working hard to revive the relations.
He said the relations between the two countries had gained a special status and the two could change the destiny of the whole region together. “We have a very serious responsibility on our shoulders. And I am sure that the steps we take together will change the destiny of the whole region,” Erdogan said.
Turkey-Russia relations, which had remained soured until the jet downing crisis, seemed largely resolved last June through a letter and subsequent telephone calls between the countries’ leaders.
AB/IINA