Russian PM Gives Gov't 1 Week to Submit Renewed Air Charter With Turkey

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the relevant ministries to submit agreed offers to renew air charter with Turkey with a focus on safety, the Russian Cabinet’s press service said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, the first charter flight from Russia to Turkey since November 2015 was cancelled.

"Medvedev instructed the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with other relevant authorities to submit to the Government within a week agreed proposals for the resumption of charter air transportation between Russia and Turkey," the prses service's statement reads.

Medvedev gave priority to transport safety, ordering no flights in regions with heightened terrorist threats, it adds.

On June 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, apologized for the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft by a Turkish jet in November 2015 and extended his condolences to the family of the pilot killed in the incident.

By doing so Ankara fulfilled one of the conditions put forward by Moscow following the incident that paralyzed the long-term partnership between the two countries.

Following Erdogan's move, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lifting restrictions on Russian citizens travel to Turkey, specifically a ban on charter flights to the country and selling tour packages to Turkey.