Russia sacrificing Turkey due to a pilot’s mistake, Erdogan says

Turkey is ready to restore relations with Russia, but does not know what type of the first step Russia expects from Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

“I do not understand what kind of the first step is being expected from us. We are not a country that is sitting in the defendant’s chair. We did not row with Russia. On the contrary, we are the country that wants to develop relations with Russia. We have been friends with Putin, and when one sacrifices such a vast country like Turkey because of a pilot’s mistake, or for any other reason, it raises some thoughts. I think we need to make efforts in order to rebuild relations with Russia. I hope that we can overcome this problem as soon as possible,” Erdogan said at a press conference, Sputnik reports.

Recently, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister of Turkey proposed to establish a joint working group with Russia to restore relations on May 30.

After several harsh speeches, Russian officials decided to implement sanctions on some specific areas. First of all, the government declared to suspend military relations with Turkey. Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on so-called relations between Ankara and terrorist groups in Syria. These developments negatively affected Turkish-Russian relations, and additionally Russia decided to halt visa-free travel for Turks after imposing sanctions on Turkish goods.