Daily Times

SIRNAK: A high-level meeting scheduled for Friday between Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and his Russian counterpart has been postponed, a military source told Anadolu Agency late Thursday.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media. The move comes after the Turkish Army and anti-Daesh coalition air forces launched military operations early Wednesday in northern Syria to clear Jarabulus of the terrorists.

Ties between Moscow and Ankara entered a new phase following an August 9 meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. Relations between the two countries soured last November after the downing of the Russian jet, which had violated Turkish airspace along the Syrian border. The issue seemed largely resolved on June 29 through a letter and subsequent telephone calls between the countries’ leaders. Russia lifted a ban on tourist flights to Turkey on June 30 following a phone conversation between Putin and Erdogan.

Putin gave his support to Turkey during the July 15 coup attempt and said he stood by the elected government in Ankara, offering his condolences to the victims of what Erdogan called the “most heinous” armed coup attempt in modern Turkish history.

Russia also lifted restrictions on flights to Turkey on July 22, which had been temporarily implemented following the coup attempt, after Turkish officials assured their Russian counterparts that additional security measures had being taken.