Turkey, Russia should build a common future: Turkish FM

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA

Turkey and Russia should look ahead and learn from the lessons of the past, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday in an article published in a Russian newspaper.

"Our opinion is that the Turkish and Russian nations expect from us to look ahead by taking lessons from the past experiences," Cavusoglu said in the Kommersant that evaluated relations between the two countries.

"Our sincere wishes are that we should fulfill this expectation, we should build the common future, and we should make a new inception," he added.

Cavusoglu's comments comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke Wednesday via telephone and agreed to normalize relations.

Ties between the two nations had been strained in recent months after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet that violated Turkish airspace in November.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that sanctions would be lifted in accordance with instructions by Putin and that restrictions would be “gradually” lifted in order to prevent harm to Russian producers, adding that Russia would demand guarantees by the Turkish government to ensure the safety of Russian tourists.

Cavusoglu said the relationship between Russia and Turkey would not be based on competition but on friendship and cooperation.

"We believe that the two countries have the much of required institutional, economic and sociocultural basis,” he said.