New Delhi: Turkey closed its air space to Russian military and civilian planes flying to Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists during his Latin American tour. “We were giving permissions in three-month intervals. The latest one was until April,” said a Turkish Media.
The Turkish top diplomat stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had informed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the situation. “Henceforth the flights have stopped,” he added, saying that the process is being conducted through dialogue on both the Montreux Convention and other matters.
The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
Turkey has tried to solve the issue created between Ukraine and Russia. A few weeks back, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had pushed for Turkey to play a mediation role, had expressed hope the talks can avert tragedy and even help arrange a cease-fire.
Turkey is a traditional ally of Ukraine and has supplied the country with Bayraktar TB2 combat drones which were purchased from Baykar and Kyiv has deployed in the conflict.
The war has sparked Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II, with more than 2 million people crossing Ukraine’s borders, according to the United Nations.
(Vinayak)