Turkish, Russian Foreign Ministers To Meet

A Turkish official has confirmed that Turkey and Russia's foreign ministers will meet in the coming days.



Tanju Bilgic, a spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday that Mevlut Cavusoglu had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, adding that the two agreed to meet in the following days.



No specific details of the proposed meeting were released.



The countries' relations have soured after the downing of a Russian military jet for its violation of Turkish airspace on Tuesday.



Bilgic told Anadolu Agency that "the details of the issue should be shared via diplomatic and military channels," adding that the upcoming meeting was also agreed to during the phone call.



Lavrov has already cancelled a visit to Turkey in the wake of the incident.



On Tuesday, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets on an aerial patrol intercepted a Russian warplane within engagement rules when it intruded into Turkish airspace near the Syrian border.



The intruding aircraft was warned about the violation 10 times within five minutes before it was shot down, according to the Turkish military.



Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed that one of its SU-24 fighter jets had been brought down, crashing in the Syrian region of Bayirbucak, close to the Yayladagi district of southern Hatay province.



NATO confirmed the accuracy of the information Turkey shared about the violation by the Russian warplane.



This was not the first time Russian fighter jets violated Turkish airspace.



In early October, Russian warplanes breached Turkish airspace for which Russian officials apologized and pledged that no such incident would be repeated; Turkey had also renewed its warning to implement engagement rules, including a military response against violations of Turkish airspace. - Ankara