MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's cabinet has asked the country's President Vladimir Putin to notify Turkish authorities of Moscow's intention to withdraw from a bilateral 1997 treaty on legal assistance, according to a decree published Thursday on Russia's legal information website.
Ankara must be informed of Moscow's intention "not to be party to the agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey on mutual legal assistance in civil, commercial and criminal cases, signed in Ankara on December 15, 1997," the document reads.
Among other forms of assistance, the Russian-Turkish deal establishes document exchanges, as well as witness and stakeholder examinations and interrogations. Additionally, Russia and Turkey had agreed to recognize mutual civil court rulings and compensation in criminal rulings based on "duly authorized awards."
The move is the latest in the wake of the November 24 downing of a Russian jet by the Turkish air force over Syria that has frayed bilateral ties.
