Mugisuddin, an advisor to the Turkish political party Saadet, expressed satisfaction with the latest development in Russian-Turkish relations, citing "important and positive steps" that have been made by the sides toward each other.
Normalisation with Israel. Apology to Russia. Lot's of uncomfortable diplomatic calisthenics by Erdogan today… to what end?
— Imtiaz Tyab (@ImtiazTyab) 27 июня 2016 г.
As for the Turkish moves towards the normalization of bilateral relations, they pertain to several aspects, according to Mugisuddin.
"First and foremost, Turkey suffered serious losses in connection with the deterioration of trade and economic relations with Russia," she said.
Additionally, Mugisuddin attributed Erdogan's apology to changes in the Turkish government, saying that "some other principles have recently started to dominate Turkish foreign policy."
"In this regard, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that from now on, the national focus will be placed on efforts to increase the number of friends and ease strained relations. And, in my opinion, the process of normalization launched toward Russia is quite in line with this foreign policy line," she said.
Secondly, she added, Europe is currently going through tough times, with Brexit due to inevitably start the process of forming a new balance of power in Europe.
Sultan Erdogan finally sent an apology for the death of a Russian pilot 7 months after the act. RIA reports.
— extremely online bro (@iFortknox) 27 июня 2016 г.
"Both Russia and Turkey should adjust to and benefit from this new process by interacting with each another," she pointed out.
Apart from these political and economic reasons, she said, there are cultural and humanitarian factors which she highly appreciates because impressive results have been achieved in this area over the past few years.
"In this vein, Turkey is strongly interested in the restoration and development of these cultural ties with Russia," she concluded.
On Monday, the Russian President's Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vladimir Putin had received a letter from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressing readiness to resolve the bilateral crisis caused by the downing of a Russian combat plane by a Turkish fighter jet last year.
On November 24, 2015, a Turkish F-16 fighter plane shot down a Russian Su-24M bomber jet operating as part of Russia's anti-terrorist mission in northern Syria near the Turkish border.
Following the attack, Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov successfully ejected from his plane, but was shot and killed as his parachute descended to the ground by armed militia.
