At the meeting on Thursday the representative of the Turkish Foreign Ministry informed Russian Ambassador to Ankara Vladimir Ivanovsky about the circumstances of the incident with the Syrian civilian plane that was forced to land on Wednesday in the Turkish capital's airport, the Russian diplomatic mission said.
It is noted that the Russian ambassador met with the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Feridun Sinirliogu, RIA Novosti reported.
"During the meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry the Turkish side informed the Russian side about the incident with the Syrian civilian plane that landed at the airport in Ankara at the request of the Turkish authorities on October 10," the embassy said.
Syrian airliner Airbus A-320 (tail number SRY442), which was heading from Moscow to Damascus, was forced to land at the airport in Ankara on Wednesday night. Turkish Air Force Fighters F-16 were involved in the operation. There were 35 passengers, including according to preliminary information, 17 Russians, including children.
The Embassy of the Russian Federation also noted that the Turkish Foreign Ministry explained the refusal to let Russian diplomats to meet with their fellow citizens in the Syrian aircraft by misunderstanding. The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier accused Ankara of violating a bilateral consular convention, arguing that Turkey didn't let Russian diplomats to meet with the Russians.
The representative of the Turkish Foreign Ministry said they received information about the Russian citizens only from the Russian embassy in Ankara, as the aircraft commander refused to disclose the names and nationality of the passengers to the local authority. Turkish side assured that consular staff wasn't able to meet with the Russians due to a misunderstanding and that this situation will not happen again in the future," the report said.
During the meeting, the sides "expressed readiness to further develop bilateral relations and cooperation on key international and regional agendas," in the light of preparation for the upcoming third meeting of the Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council of the highest level.