Ankara: we are pleased with our active dialogue with Moscow

Turkey's Ambassador to Moscow Huseyin Dirioz, speaking at a meeting with the chairman of the Russian Federation Council's International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, noted the dynamics of development of Russia-Turkey relations.

"Indeed, the relations between our countries are developing at a rapid pace," the Turkish diplomat stressed. "Last year, eight meetings between the heads of our countries were held," he recalled. Dirioz drew attention to the fact that the heads of Russian and Turkish ministries also try to interact as often as possible. "We are pleased with the very close cooperation, an active dialogue between the two countries," the ambassador said. 

"Russia is a very important partner for us both in bilateral relations and in terms of geopolitics," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.

The Turkish diplomat also said that the Astana talks on Syria make an important contribution to the Geneva process and political settlement in this Arab republic. According to him, the interaction between Moscow and Astana is of great importance for establishing peace in the region. "We are pleased to note the effectiveness of the Astana process and the recent Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi," the Turkish Ambassador to Russia said.

The head of the political research of the Center for Modern Turkish Studies, Yuri Mavashev, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that during the restoration of Russian-Turkish relations, Moscow and Ankara came closer to each other than they were at the end of summer 2015. "If we talk about international politics, we were brought closer by the Syrian issue here, since those agreements on Syria that were achieved allowed us to neutralize our previous disagreements. Previously, the problem of Russian-Turkish relations was a shift in the economic direction, when the parties discussed only business, and political issues were put off, but now the countries frankly admit that their positions may not coincide on a number of issues, but they do not stop dialogue," he said.

"For the first time the countries of the region managed to start addressing the issues of Middle East security in the Russia-Turkey-Iran format. The experience of joint actions in Syria can be used in neighboring regions, given the high tension in Central Asia and Transcaucasia. We should understand that in the modern world the problem of one country very soon becomes a problem for others. The current high level of ties between Russia and Turkey shows that the parties have realized their responsibility not just for interstate relations but also for peoples," Yury Mavashev called.

"Mr. Ambassador, with whom I spoke in order to clarify Turkey's position, assessing our relations, said that without public diplomacy it will be very difficult to bring the people's position to the attention of the leadership. "The decision at the state level is one thing, but a decision at the public level is also required," the head of the political research of the Center for Modern Turkish Studies concluded.