“There may be different thoughts on how to apply the cease-fire”, he said. The meeting will be followed by talks by higher level officials, he said.
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In November, Turkish aircraft shot down a Russian fighter jet along the border with Syria, sparking a crisis in ties with Moscow and strong expressions of support from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Turkey said on Wednesday the European Union was fuelled by anti-Turkish sentiment and hostility to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and was making grave mistakes in its response to a failed coup which was costing it the trust of ordinary Turks.
Cavusoglu also indicated that Turkey could find common ground with Russian Federation on Syria, where they have been on opposing sides of the conflict.
He also said that Turkey was building a “strong mechanism” with Russian Federation to find a solution in Syria, and a delegation including the foreign ministry, military and intelligence officials will go to Russian Federation on Wednesday for talks. While Moscow has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation’s civil war and further bolstered that support by launching an air campaign last September, Turkey has pushed for Assad’s removal.
“We think similarly regarding the ceasefire, humanitarian aid and [the need for] political resolution in Syria”, Cavusoglu said, although he added the two may think differently on how to implement the ceasefire. “We particularly do not want attacks that hurt civilians. We don’t find the Aleppo siege to be appropriate”.
NATO said Wednesday that Turkey’s membership of the military alliance is “not in question” following the failed coup in July as the organisation stressed its “very clear position” of continued support for Ankara.
Turning to the coup attempt, Cavusoglu said Turkey had no intelligence on the possibility of Gulen fleeing to another country such as Egypt in the face of a potential USA extradition. He expressed support for the elected government of Turkey and respect for the courage of the Turkish people.
However, he said: “No-one should ask us whether one of our relations is an alternative to another”.
He added: “FETO exerts efforts not only to deteriorate Turkey’s relations with Russian Federation but with all other countries”.
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The shooting down of the Russian jet led to a freeze in relations, including economic sanctions and a bar on Russian tourism to Turkey that only thawed in June when Erdogan wrote to his counterpart and the two later spoke by telephone.
