Turkish president to visit Russia on Aug 9 to resume relations

MOSCOW, Jul 26 (PRIME) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit St. Petersburg on August 9 in order to resume relations with Russia as soon as possible, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told his Russian counterpart Arkady Dvorkovich on Tuesday.

“We are here to normalize the situation and our relations as soon as possible and at an accelerated pace since they were suspended on November 24,” Simsek said.

The Russian–Turkish relations deteriorated after Turkey downed Russia’s Su-24 bomber in November 2015. In June, Erdogan sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin expressing his condolences to the family of the downed plane’s pilot.

Shortly after a phone conversation with Erdogan, Putin signed a ruling to abolish a prohibition to sell tours to Turkey and to carry charter flights.

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