MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow’s positive reaction to Ankara’s apology over the downing of Russia’s Su-24 may lead to normalization of bilateral ties, a former foreign minister of Turkey told Sputnik Tuesday.
“The incident may leave some scars but the relations may start to improve,” Yasar Yakis said.
“The downing of the Russian aircraft by Turkey and the retaliatory measures that Russia took against Turkey proved to be detrimental to the economies of both countries. One side had to take an initiative. It was more natural for Turkey to take such an initiative. And it took,” Yakis said.
On Monday, Erdogan sent a letter to Putin apologizing for the November 2015 Turkish downing of a Russian Su-24 in Syria. Following the incident, Moscow imposed a number of restrictive measures on Ankara, including a food ban as well as travel bans that impacted the Turkish tourism industry.
