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Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu: "We have closed the airspace for Russian military planes - and also for civilian planes - flying to Syria"
Photo: ADEM ALTAN / AFP
Turkey has temporarily closed its airspace to Russian civilian and military aircraft en route to Syria.
"We have closed the airspace for Russian military aircraft - and also for civilian aircraft - flying to Syria," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu on Saturday, according to Turkish media.
The Russian side had already been informed about this in March.
Ankara gave Moscow permission to fly through Turkish airspace at three-month intervals until April, but those flights have now been halted, Çavuşoğlu added.
He informed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov of the decision, who then forwarded it to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin then ordered that no more flights be flown on this route, Çavuşoğlu said, according to Turkish reporters during a flight to Uruguay.
Çavuşoğlu added that the ban will last for three months.
It is one of Turkey's harshest reactions to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Ankara has also closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships.
In addition, Turkey is supporting the Ukrainian armed forces with the delivery of the TB2 combat drone from the Turkish manufacturer Bayraktar, which is said to have an important influence on the course of the war.
In parallel, NATO member Turkey has good relations with both Ukraine and Russia and has offered to mediate in peace talks between the two countries.
Çavuşoğlu said that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to meet in Turkey if progress is made in peace talks.
Moscow and Kyiv are working on a "draft joint statement," Cavusoglu said, without giving any further details.
Ankara has also closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships.
In addition, Turkey is supporting the Ukrainian armed forces with the delivery of the TB2 combat drone from the Turkish manufacturer Bayraktar, which is said to have an important influence on the course of the war.
In the Syrian civil war, Moscow is providing military support to the ruler Bashar al-Assad, while Ankara is supporting rebel groups there.
Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24.
In the meantime, the fighting is mainly concentrated in the east and south of Ukraine.
jso/dpa/AFP