12 July 2016•Update: 17 July 2016
By Ruslan Rehimov
BAKU, Azerbaijan
The normalization of relations between Turkey and Russia will help both countries find new effective ways for a solution to Syrian crisis, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday.
Lavrov made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku.
"The [normalization] process will enable us to find more effective paths for solutions to crises in Syria.
"Turkey and Russia have different approaches on the Syria issue. However, after I met with [Turkish Foreign Minister] Mevlut Cavusoglu in Sochi, I can say that we will have fewer conflicts with our Turkish counterparts," said Lavrov.
The Azerbaijani foreign minister, for his part, said Azerbaijan was quite pleased with the rapprochement between Turkey and Russia. "The fewer conflicts between Russia and Turkey, the better it is for Azerbaijan," Mammadyarov added.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Russia soured following the downing of a Russian warplane that violated Turkish airspace last November.
On June 30, Russia lifted a ban on tourist flights to Turkey following a telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish and Russian foreign ministers met in the Russian city of Sochi on July 1 in an effort to boost the process of normalization of bilateral ties.
Mammadyarov said the Nagorno-Karabakh solution process was also discussed in the meeting with Lavrov on Tuesday.
Stressing on the intensified dialogues about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mammadyarov said an incremental solution was required and noted that the Armenian army in the occupied territories was causing a threat to the region.
Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan in 1991 with Armenian military support and a peace process has yet to be implemented.
Since the end of war in 1994, Armenia and Azerbaijan have held talks under the supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Minsk Group.
An agreement-in-principle was reached in St. Petersburg, Russia, following talks late June involving Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Serzh Sargsyan, president of Armenia.
*Anadolu Agency’s Sibel Ugurlu contributed to this report from Ankara.
