"Turkey has always supported continued mutual contacts and political dialogue with Russia. In fact, on December 3, 2015, on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade, a bilateral meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers took place, during which both sides observed courtesy while openly expressing their positions," the ambassador said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Relations between Ankara and Moscow deteriorated in November last year when Ankara shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft carrying out anti-terrorist operations in Syria.
The plane was shot down by Turkey as it had allegedly violated Turkish airspace. Both Russian and Syrian military officials confirmed that the plane never crossed into Turkish airspace. In response to the incident, Russia introduced a set of measures against Turkey, which ban or restrict the activities of Turkish organizations in Russia, prohibit hiring Turkish citizens by Russian employers, and ban certain food imports.
