Russia and Turkey Agree on Military Hotline

Turkey said that Russian and Turkish army commanders will establish an emergency hotline between them to avoid unwanted incidents.

“We have agreed to be in close contact in order to avoid such incidents. In this frame, our chief of general staff and the Russian chief of general staff have re-established a direct line. They are in talks on this,” Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News quoted the words of country’s presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin.

The announcement has been made after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Russia for negotiations with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

“The Russian army chief and our army chief were participating in a phase of yesterday’s negotiations. They have still been in contact over creation the direct phone line,” Turkish Yeni Safak daily quoted the words of Ibrahim Kalin.

The presidential spokesman also pointed out that the army chiefs are currently “in close contract over regional issues of mutual interest, especially the crisis in Syria.”

“They want the mechanism to begin its activities immediately,” Kalin added.

Earlier on August 10, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the plan of a Turkish delegation, including Foreign Ministry, defense and military officials, to visit Russia later in the day for follow-up talks.

He also added that Russia and Turkey have the same views concerning the need for a ceasefire in Syria and the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilians affected by the conflict there.

“We are doing it for our interests, for regional interests. We are actually issuing our messages to the West in a clear way,” Mevlut Cavusoglu stated.

Background on this from Katehon:

Prior to the meeting of the two presidents, several important preliminary meetings had already been held. Last week the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, visited Ankara. This strategic ally of Russia held confidential talks with Erdogan. The day before, on August 8th, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran held talks in Baku. The question here is about building up a powerful new Eurasian bloc, which is also an invitation to Turkey. On the agenda is the membership of Turkey in the SCO and the inclusion of the country in the Eurasian Union's integration structures. The presidents will discuss the global plans of the Eurasian integration of Turkey, as well as specific projects, such as the "Turkish stream".