UPDATE 2: Turkish president to visit Russia on Aug 9 to resume relations

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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 but in mid-July, after a terrorist attack and a coup attempt in Turkey, Moscow barred Russians from flying to Turkey altogether.

Simsek said that Turkey had taken measures to ensure safety of flights. Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said earlier that the government can abolish the flight ban soon after analyzing the steps taken by Ankara.

Sokolov said that Russia and Turkey are also in negotiations to exchange truck traffic quotas.

Deputy Energy Minister Yury Sentyurin told reporters that Russia and Turkey had discussed Russian gas pipeline project Turkish Stream during the visit of the Turkish delegation but the issue requires another meeting.

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