Moscow [Russia], June 16: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from his newly re-elected Turkish counterpart RecepTayyip Erdogan to visit Turkey. "The Turkish president has confirmed his invitation to our president to visit Turkey," Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday, the Interfax news agency reported. The plans for the trip are under way, he added, though a fixed date has not yet been set.
Relations between the two countries had for some time been tense, after a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian fighter jet in the Syrian war in 2015. Since then, however, diplomatic ties between the two states have thawed, with Putin and Erdogan now seen as friends. Moreover, Turkey has been hesitant to participate in sanctions against Russia ever since it invaded neighbouring Ukraine last February. Turkey, a NATO state, has positioned itself as a mediator in the conflict. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune