Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation, and Turkish Gen. Hulusi Akar met at the Turkish General Staff headquarters in Ankara.
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The Turkish and Russian top generals held their talks in a closed-door meeting following a ceremony at the General Staff Headquarters in Ankara, a Turkish military source said, according to Anadolu Agency (AA).
Gerasimov’s presence in Ankara is also a significant symbol of healing ties between the two countries, after they agreed to normalize relations in June following a months-long crisis over the shooting down of a Russian war plane.
The crisis, which followed Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet on the Syrian-Turkish border previous year, saw Russia accuse Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of profiting from illegal oil trade with the Islamic State group. A Syrian ceasefire deal brokered by the United States and Russian Federation could meanwhile change the dynamics of the conflict, raising the prospect of joint military targeting of banned Islamist groups by the former Cold War foes.
Relations between Turkey and Russia hit a low in November 2015 after Turkish jets downed a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Syrian border for violating Turkish airspace.
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“Political and economic tensions between the two countries recently softened with a lifting of sanctions and increased dialogue toward ending the Syrian civil war”, Hurriyet writes, adding that military cooperation in Syria was expected to be a major topic of discussion between the two generals. Russian Federation has in the past said any such incursion would be illegal.
