[Igor Antunov]

“The head of the Turkish state expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the relatives of the deceased Russian pilot and said ‘sorry,’” Peskov said.

In his letter, Erdogan called Russia “a friend and a strategic partner” of Ankara, with whom the Turkish authorities would not want to spoil relations.

“We never had a desire or a deliberate intention to down an aircraft belonging to Russia,” the letter read, according to a statement published on the Kremlin website.

According to the statement, Erdogan’s letter stressed that “the Turkish side undertook all the risks and made a great effort to recover the body of the Russian pilot from the Syrian opposition, bringing it to Turkey. The organization of the pre-burial procedures was conducted in accordance with all religious and military procedures.”

Ankara has treated the family of the dead Russian pilot as if it were a Turkish family and is “ready for any initiatives to relieve the pain and severity of the damage done,” the letter said.

The address by the Turkish leader also informed that a criminal investigation has been launched against the person suspected of killing the Russian pilot, the Kremlin said.

https://www.rt.com/news/348562-putin-er ... key-pilot/

Grovel little piggy, grovel. Maybe in 20 years Russia restores your tourism industry.

[Doomhammer]

I was just about to post this.



Even Erdogan realized that he needs Russia, and others, so that his country remains rich and secure enough for him and his minions to continue their rapine.

[pikachu]

Russo-Turkish relationship is very strange. They are strangely drawn to each other against all odds.

The fact that Erdogan decided to play along with Putin's demand and formally fulfill it, even if it's obviously half assed and meaningless, indicates that he must have been pretty desperate to restore good relations with Russia.
The fact that Putin decided to play along with Erdogan's half-assed apology and formally accept it, even though it was clearly as fake as it gets, indicates that he must be pretty desperate to restore good relations with Turkey as well.
And now they're just about to become BFFs again, like it was a fight between a married couple.

Now the question - why? Why do they need each other so badly? Their relations weren't even that bad to start with. Russia's "sanctions" against Turkey were even more pathetic than the West's sanctions against Russia. 99% of the trade and cooperation between Turkey and Russia seemed to go on as usual, and it's not like they are each other's primary trading partners or anything anyway, they could both live reasonably well with no trade at all between them, if that's what it came to.

I mean these guys are backing the exact opposite sides of the civil war in Syria with arms, money, and men. It might have still made sense if their disagreement over Syria was an isolated dispute between countries which are otherwise allied and have a common set of friends and enemies, but they're anything but. Turkey is a member of NATO, and it is backing the side opposite to Russia not just in Syria but in some sense in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and generally in the Middle East. They've backed the opposite sides in the Balkans, and they are competing over influence in the Caucasus, and here too they are invested on the opposite sides, with one country primarily backing Armenia and the other - Azerbaijan.

Any two other countries in the given circumstances would probably be bitter enemies, but not Russia and Turkey. It's almost like Erdogan and Putin just have some kind of personal affinity for one another.

[Beren]

Turkish pride hasn't lasted long.

I'm glad Putin taught Erdogan a lesson and made him apologise.

[youtube]WJhPLGMhRuQ[/youtube]

[The Sabbaticus]

Turkey is a key player in the energy market due to its geostrategic location. Russia can't afford to completely alienate such an influential party, not when its Russo-Sino gambit has fallen to the wayside. Not to mention its less than stellar newfound relationship with the Iranians. EU sanctions remain in effect and Germany is coming under increased criticism over its bilateral arrangements with Russia.