Russia, Turkey sign Syria flight safety agreement

MOSCOW – Russia’s defence ministry says it has signed an agreement with the Turkish army to ensure flight safety over war-torn Syria.

The Russian defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the memorandum lays the groundwork for co-ordination between the two countries’ air forces to “prevent accidents involving planes and drones” in Syrian air space.

The ministry says a Turkish delegation travelled to Moscow to sign the agreement.

Relations between Moscow and Ankara took a hit in 2015 after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syria-Turkey border. It took Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan months to apologize for the incident.

After he did, Russia brought Turkey onboard as a key partner to broker a peace settlement in Syria.

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