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Turkey's Erdogan sends letter to Putin to restore ties

Xinhua, June 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his wish to restore relations with Russia in a recent letter of congratulation to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday's Russia Day, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.

"On behalf of the Turkish people, I congratulate all Russians on the occasion of the Russia Day, and wish that in the time ahead the relations between Russia and Turkey reach their well-deserved level," the RIA Novosti quoted the letter as saying.

Relations between Russia and Turkey have soured after the latter downed a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Turkish-Syrian border in November last year for alleged airspace violation, which Russia denied and took as a hostile act.

Putin described the attack as a "stab in the back" and ordered a broad range of economic sanctions against Turkey.

Ankara did not take retaliatory measures, in a bid to avoid the escalation of the already tense situation. But it did not shy away from resorting to harsh diatribe against Russia.

Earlier this month, Erdogan said he wanted to improve ties with Russia, lamenting that bilateral relations were sacrificed over what he called "a pilot error."

He said that he did not understand what kind of "first step" Russia expects Turkey to take to repair the ties.

The Russia Day is a national holiday set to commemorate the gaining of its state sovereignty in 1990. Endi