Erdogan: Vladimir Vladimirovich, please, sorry

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received a message from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which the Turkish leader expressed his interest in resolving the situation connected with the crash of a Russian military aircraft.

In particular, it is noted in the message that Russia is Turkey's friend and strategic partner, with which the Turkish authorities would not want to spoil relations.

"We," Erdogan emphasizes, "have never had the desire or intention of bringing down the much-reported aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation."

Further, the letter reads that, "taking on all the risks and making great efforts, we took the dead body of the Russian pilot from the Syrian opposition, and brought him to Turkey." "The organization of a pre-funeral procedure was conducted in accordance with religious and military procedures," it is noted in the Turkish president's statement.

"All this work was carried out by us at a level worthy of Turkish-Russian relations, I want to express again my sympathy and deepest condolences to the family of the deceased Russian pilot and I say: I am sorry. I share their pain with all my heart.  We perceive the Russian pilot’s family as a Turkish family. In order to relieve the pain and severity of the damage we are ready for any initiative,’’ the site kremlin.ru leads the words of Erdogan.

The letter also states that regarding a Turkish citizen, whose name is associated with the death of the Russian pilot, a judicial investigation has been initiated and conducted.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his deepest regret over the incident and underlines the willingness to do everything possible to restore the traditionally friendly relations between Turkey and Russia, as well as jointly respond to the crisis events in the region, to fight terrorism.

The director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vitaly Naumkin, in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza expressed confidence that in this way Erdogan is trying to get out of the isolation to which his foreign policy has led him. "I think this letter is the first step Turkey has made since such a sharp deterioration in relations with Russia in conditions, when he is, in fact, in international isolation, is unacceptable for Erdogan. He is looking for a way out of this isolation: he has reconciled with Israel, removing all of the requirements, which appeared after the incident with the flotilla in 2010, and has now made quite a strong step towards Russia by apologizing," he said.

At the same time, Vitaly Naumkin said that the apology is not all the requirements that have been put forward by Moscow. ‘’He has to express a willingness to pay compensation, because they shot down an expensive aircraft and shot down a pilot, whose family they must pay compensation. However, the fact that the Turkish president has apologized is a positive signal from his side,’’ the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies believes.

The expert recalled that in the near future there will be a meeting of the heads of the BSEC’s Foreign Ministers in Sochi, where the reconciliation dialogue can be continued. "Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has been invited there, a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov can be held on the sidelines of the conference. It can be assumed that the negotiation process will be started, which is designed to change the situation in Russian-Turkish relations. We will see what follows the letter of the President of Turkey. At least now the question arises about a serious discussion of the Turkish policy in the Syrian crisis, which also remains a major obstacle for improving relations with Russia, if nothing changes," he warned.