Turkey will keep 'constructive' approach to Russia

ANKARA

Turkey will maintain goodwill and a constructive approach to Russia despite Moscow ignoring its efforts to de-escalate tensions, Turkey’s presidential spokesperson said on Friday.

Ibrahim Kalin said Russia had ignored Turkey's efforts to solve the issues and had left phone calls from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unanswered.

Kalin said that Erdogan asked for a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin following the latest violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian warplane on Jan. 29.

"But the Russian side again failed to reveal an affirmative attitude,” Kalin said in a statement Friday.

He said it was “telling” that Russia -- which had previously admonished Turkey for calling NATO allies before Moscow -- was now avoiding talking to Erdogan.

Diplomatic relations between Ankara and Moscow soured after a Russian SU-24 violating Turkish airspace was intercepted and shot down on Nov. 24 by Turkish F-16 fighters.

Kalin said it was Russian airstrikes that led to the suspension of the Geneva peace talks.

"Hundreds of innocent Syrians, women and children, lost their lives in these attacks that have been indiscriminately going on for months," Kalin added.

Stressing that the aim of the Russian attacks was not to halt the terrorist Daesh group, Kalin said 90 percent of the attacks had targeted civilians and moderate opposition fighters.

"Russia's aim is not to fight Daesh, but to sustain the [Bashar] al-Assad regime that lost its legitimacy and committed war crimes," the spokesperson added.

Since Sept. 30 last year, Russia -- a close ally of the Assad regime -- has targeted a number of civilian areas in Syria, according to U.S. officials.