Burcu Arik
01 July 2016•Update: 03 July 2016
By Umur Kocak Semiz
MOSCOW, Russia
The Russian and Israeli senior intelligence chiefs met in Moscow on Friday to discuss international security issues.
According to a statement made after the meeting, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Israel's Mossad intelligence agency head Yossi Cohen also addressed the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
After months of strained ties over Turkey shooting down a Russian fighter jet that violated its airspace last November, Russia Thursday lifted a ban on tourist flights to Turkey following a telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In addition, Turkey announced earlier this week that it had signed an agreement to normalize relations with Israel more than six years after Israeli troops stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla Mavi Marmara in international waters, killing 10 Turkish citizens.
*Anadolu Agency correspondent Burcu Arik contributed to this report from Istanbul.
