Ankara Seeks to Keep ‘Communication Channels’ Open with Russia: PM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Ankara wants to keep all communication channels with Russia open despite the strain that the downing of a Russian jet has put on bilateral relations, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday.
"Our priority is to keep all channels of communication with Russia open," Davutoglu said, Sputnik News reported.
Relations between Turkey and Russia have sharply deteriorated since Tuesday's incident when Turkey shot down a Russian jet. Russia has imposed economic sanctions and revoked a visa-free agreement, while Turkey has sought to cool tensions, seeing the Paris climate change talks that start this week as a chance to mend ties.
Ahmet Davutoglu also said the body of the pilot killed in the Tuesday's incident was taken to Turkey late on Saturday to be handed over to Russia.
The body is being treated in accordance with the Orthodox tradition, Davutoglu said in a news conference in Ankara on Sunday before going to Brussels for a meeting with EU leaders on migration.
He did not say how the body was delivered to Hatay in southern Turkey but said Russia's military attache was going there on Sunday as part of procedures to recover the remains.
Davutoglu said that with different coalitions operating in Syria with differing objectives, similar incidents to that of the downing of the Russian jet could happen unless there was information sharing and coordination.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Turkey of trying to bring its relations with Russia to a "dead end," calling the shootdown "a stab in the back" and tying Turkey to terrorists.
