Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, welcomes Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in the Konstantin palace outside St.Petersburg, Russia,
on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016. President Erdogan travels to Russia to meet
with President Putin for the first time since apologizing in late June
for the downing of a Russian fighter jet along the Syrian border in
November last year. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
ANKARA,
Turkey (AP) — A delegation of Turkish foreign ministry, military and
intelligence officials is traveling to Russia for discussions on finding
a solution to the Syria conflict, Turkey's foreign minister said
Wednesday.
The
announcement by Mevlut Cavusoglu came a day after Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russia's Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg
for the first time since the countries agreed to mend relations soured
by Turkey's downing of a Russian plane in November.
The
two leaders agreed to take steps to rebuild their damaged trade ties
and revive major energy projects. They also held a separate meeting to
discuss the conflict in Syria — despite their divergent views. While
Moscow has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation's
civil war and further bolstered that support by launching an air
campaign last September, Turkey has pushed for Assad's removal.
Cavusoglu
told state-run Anadolu Agency that the Turkish delegation would head
for Russia on Wednesday in search of common ground. The meeting would be
followed by talks by higher level officials, he said, adding that the
two countries had a mutual understanding on a number of issues.
"On
Syria, we think the same on the issue of a cease-fire, on humanitarian
aid and a political solution," the minister said. "We may have a
different outlook on how the cease-fire should be implemented."
Cavusoglu
said: "We (Turkey) especially don't want attacks that harm civilians.
We don't believe it is appropriate that the moderate opposition is
attacked. We don't find the Aleppo siege to be appropriate."
Cavusoglu
on Wednesday also denied that Erdogan's visit to St. Petersburg was
intended to send a message to Turkey's allies in the West, which Ankara
accuses of not showing Turkey sufficient support since last month's
failed coup.
Turkey
is pressing the United States to extradite U.S.-based Muslim cleric
Fethullah Gulen, whom it accuses of orchestrating the coup attempt, and
has expressed frustration at its slow response. Gulen has repeatedly
denied any involvement.
The
dispute has strained U.S.-Turkish ties, with some Turkish officials
implying Washington could have been behind the coup. Washington has
strongly denied that.
Turkish
officials have also fumed at expressions of concern from European
officials over Turkey's sweeping crackdown on the Gulen movement, and
accused the West of failing to show support for a democratically elected
government. Ankara also lashed out at the EU for failing to uphold its
end of an EU-Turkey agreement on migration.
Still, Cavusoglu said the rapprochement with Russia was independent of relations with the West.
"We have always regarded our relations with Russia as complementary not as an alternative (to the West)," Cavusoglu said.
"We
are not improving ties with Russia to send a message to the West,"
Cavusoglu told Anadolu. "We are doing it for our own interests and for
the interests of the region."
Turkey's
shooting down of the Russian plane near the border with Syria had
brought relations with Russia to freezing point until Erdogan apologized
to Russia in June.
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