The Turkish foreign minister did not give the reason for this decision.
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Posted on 04/23/2022 20:34
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Turkey has closed its airspace to Russian planes bound for Syria, Turkish media reported on Saturday (April 23), citing Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. He did not give the reason for this decision. The head of Turkey’s diplomacy said he passed it to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who forwarded it to President Vladimir Putin. The ban will last for three months, the Turkish minister said, with permits being renewed quarterly. Russia, a key supporter of the Damascus regime since the civil war began in 2011, did not react immediately.
As a member of NATO and an ally of Ukraine, Turkey has been trying to facilitate mediation between Moscow and Kyiv since the start of the war in Ukraine, and has so far refused to join Western sanctions against Russia over concerns about an open line with Turkey to uphold Kremlin. Turkey has therefore twice hosted direct negotiations between the two parties, on March 10 at ministerial level in Antalya and on March 29 in Istanbul.