Putin has not spoken to anybody as much as he spoke to Erdoğan: Russian envoy

ANKARA

Turkish-Russian relations are back to “normal” after the downing of a Russian warplane in November 2015, Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrey Karlov said on Dec. 16.

“The crisis after our plane was shot down has been overcome. We are back to normal relations. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has not spoken to anybody as much as he spoke to [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan on the phone,” Karlov said at an international conference titled “Deepening Turkey-Russia Relations.”

He added that the crisis had “unfortunately” hit economic relations between the two countries. 

Although Karlov said Ankara-Moscow ties were back to normal, the Turkish government is frustrated by the Russian side’s reluctance to lift the trade sanctions and visa restrictions imposed on Turkey. 

Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi expressed Ankara’s disappointment with the progress, as many sanctions are still remaining in place. 

“It is possible to take lessons from it. The past year showed how relations [between Russia and Turkey] are sensitive and fragile. But there is a new cooperation on the horizon,” said Andrey Kortunov, the director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, at the conference.  

Relations between Turkey and Russia began to thaw following a strain over the downing of a Russian fighter jet on Nov. 25, 2015, which Ankara said had violated Turkish airspace along the Syrian border.