Dead End: 'Erdogan and Team Make Any Warming of Relations Impossible'

MOSCOW(Sputnik) — Rapprochement between Russia and Turkey will be impossible as long as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in power, a member of the Kurdish National Congress (KNC) told Sputnik on Thursday, commenting on the Russian president’s remark that Moscow considered Ankara a friend.

Relations between the two states soured last fall after a Turkish jet downed a Russian plane close to the Turkish border in Syria.

"Any attempt to try and make friends with those in power in Turkey, who are responsible for the shot Russian fighter jet and for inciting war in Syria, is also impossible. While Erdogan and his team is in power, any warming of relations is impossible," Farhat Patiyev, of the Brussels-based KNC and member of the Russian Presidential Council for Inter-ethnic Relations, said.

Speaking at Thursday’s Q&A session with the Russian people, Putin said that Russia still regarded Turkey as a friendly nation but the controversial behavior of some Turkish officials raised concerns.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is correct saying that the fighting in the south of Turkey has turned into civil war, according to Farhat Patiyev, member of the Kurdish National Congress.

Earlier in the day, Putin said it was impossible to guarantee safety for Russians in Turkey, with the south of the country practically mired in civil war and terrorist attacks happening almost every week.

"The [Russian] president said what is really going on in Turkey now, there is a civil war with punitive operations carried out [by Turkish forces], there is a war going on with the local [Kurdish] population," Patiyev, who is also a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, said.

The Kurdish politician added that the Russian leader’s statement came just days after the statement by his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the cities where fighting has been going on should be demolished.