Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim used his first visit to Moscow as Turkish premier on December 6 to say the halt in relations between Russia and Turkey was over, Anadolu Agency reported.

Yildirim, addressing a conference at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) University, described November 2015’s downing of a Russian warplane as an “unfortunate event”.

He said relations with Moscow had faced a "test" but added: "Thanks to mutual political will, we have endured the difficult situation."

He recalled the "normalization process" which started after the August 9 meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

"Due to the nature of the region, we [as Russia, as Turkey] have a crucial duty. At the same time we have the responsibility in the region," Yildirim added.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who met with his Turkish counterpart on the same day, also stressed that Russia and Turkey have all possibilities to increase cooperation in economic and humanitarian spheres and implement major joint projects.

"We have the opportunity to build them, implement a lot of major joint projects and the task of this meeting is to give additional impetus to the economic, investment and humanitarian cooperation,” Medvedev added.

Later, Binali Yildirim will be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin

A wide range of issues, including bilateral relations, particularly in the economic field, as well as regional and international developments will be discussed during Yildirim's visit.

Relations between Turkey and Russia broke down for about seven months after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in November 2015. However, relations have improved since the August meeting of the two presidents.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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