Turkey ready to cooperate with Russia against terror, Erdoğan says President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that Ankara is ready to cooperate with Moscow in the fight against terror during a televised interview with Russia's Rossiya-1 broadcaster. "We are ready to take all the necessary steps for cooperation with Russia against terror," the president said. Also commenting on the downing of the Russian jet in November 2015, "I have expressed that the event was an unfortunate and a saddening event for us. Those responsible for the event on Syrian soil have already been referred to the courts. The investigation is continuing. Right now, the person responsible for the death of the Russian pilot is in jail," he said.
The president also said the energy-related projects should continue as there was a lot of time lost during the period of tensions between the two states. Meanwhile, the president also added that Turkey's beaches are safe for tourists and that he expects Russian tourists to return.
Relations between the two countries hit a low in November 2015 after Turkish jets downed a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Syrian border for violating Turkish airspace. Turkey provided radar data that the Russian planes breached the border while Moscow insisted that the warplane had not crossed the border. In the beginning, Erdoğan and Putin exchanged harsh criticism and ultimatums in the wake of the jet crisis. Kremlin directed accusations at Ankara and imposed sanctions to various Turkish sectors. Tension between the two countries settled when President Erdoğan expressed regret for the downing of a Russian military jet in June and the relations entered a new phase following the Aug. 9 meeting between Erdoğan and Putin in St. Petersburg.
