27 November 2015•Update: 30 November 2015
BAKU
Turkey’s foreign minister has said that diplomacy will be the cure to resolving divisions between Ankara and Moscow.
Speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "We do not favor any tension. We believe we can tackle the issue via diplomatic ways."
The Turkish minister – on an official trip to the country – was speaking during a meeting with Azerbaijan's parliament speaker, Oktay Esedov.
Cavusoglu was referring to the recent diplomatic spat between Turkey and Russia after two Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday after it repeatedly ignored warnings that it was violating Turkish airspace.
Cavusoglu maintained that the tension came after Turkey exercised its rights under international law.
"[It was] a plane with unidentified nationality that breached our borders. It did not respond to the warnings. There was no sign that it was a Russian plane," he said.
Expressing his belief in diplomacy to solve the issue, the senior diplomat said that they expect the same understanding from their "neighbor and friend” Russia.
"We expect prudential remarks and actions. I also spoke to [Russian Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov on the phone and we agreed to meet in Belgrade on Dec. 3-4. I believe the tension will ease in the next days," Cavusoglu said.
Esedov expressed Azerbaijan’s wish for the tension to cease as soon as possible, saying Baku was ready to do its best to contribute to a resolution.
During his talks in Baku, Cavusoglu was also received by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and also met Prime Minister Artur Rasizade privately.
