This week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin, with Ankara looking to reset its relations with Moscow after downing a Russian fighter jet near the border with Syria in November.
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“We will discuss all the details”.
Mevlut Cavusoglu said in interview with Turkey’s private NTV television on Wednesday that Ankara “will again, in an active manner, with its planes take part in operations” against IS targets.
He added that “since Daesh is our common enemy, it would be good if Russian Federation would. target its operations against Daesh”, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
Working against DAESH “is a priority for all of us”, she said.
Despite the purge of the military, including almost half of the country’s generals, Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Friday that Turkey’s role in the US-led coalition against Islamic State would continue without interruption.
Mr. Cakil had on July 28 called on the Nigerian Government to close 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria for their alleged links with a movement his government says was involved in the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.
Tension has boiled over between the two states since a Russian warplane was shot down by Turkish forces near the Syrian border in November past year. Turkey is part of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – whose forces operate out of its Incirlik base, use of which has also been authorized for US-led anti-ISIS operations – and is one of the staunchest backers of opposition forces fighting against the Syrian government of Bashar Al-Assad, which is supported militarily by Moscow.
Ankara halted strikes after the downing of a Russian plane by Turkish forces previous year. Artillery fire directed at IS has continued, however.
Despite the differences Turkey and Iran will “strengthen cooperation for a lasting peace in Syria”, Cavusoglu said. “We said we have a common enemy which we can struggle against together”.
The three-person Turkish delegation in Moscow is tasked with implementing decisions made at Tuesday’s summit, Cavusoglu said.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that Putin and Erdogan concluded an agreement on preventing incidents in Turkish and Syrian airspace as well as “proposals on establishing control over the Turkish-Syrian border”.
Syria has been torn apart by a five-year conflict that has left hundreds of thousands of victims dead and millions displaced, with Turkey alone sheltering more than 2.7 million Syrians.
He accused the EU of making grave mistakes in its response to Turkey’s failed coup and said the Union could only blame itself if the west “loses” Turkey. “In order to prevent that, we need to put into practice the solidarity and cooperation [mechanism] between us including sharing of real-time intelligence”.
Gulen supporters in Turkey have been purged in a wave of arrests since the thwarted July 15 coup.
“Of course, we welcome it”, the diplomat said commenting on Cavusoglu’s statement earlier on Thursday.
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“We are on the same page with Russian Federation that Syria should have an administration under which everyone can live with their beliefs”, he said.
