BERLIN (Sputnik) – The chair of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD) association said on Tuesday that he hoped his motherland would normalize its relations with Russia after the downing of a Russian jet by a Turkish fighter over Syria last week.
"I hope that Russia and Turkey will discuss the issue at the negotiating table and the topic will be closed," Gokay Sufuoglu told RIA Novosti in an interview.
Asked to assess the prospects for short-term rapprochement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sufuoglu’s outlook was pessimistic.
25 November 2015, 21:43 GMT
"We know Putin and Erdogan: these are people who are unlikely to make steps toward each other. But I hope their team will help resolve the problem," he stressed.
A Turkish air force F-16 shot down a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-24 Fencer over Syria on November 24, the first time a NATO ally had downed a Russian aircraft in decades.
Putin called the attack a "stab in the back" committed by "accomplices of terrorists." Russia imposed a series of economic measures against Turkey after the incident.
