Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with his Turkish counterpart, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, on Wednesday following the downing of a Russian war plane by Turkish F-16 fighter jets on Tuesday.
His previously planned visit has coincided with the plane crisis that has dramatically escalated tension between Moscow and Ankara. The downing of war plane by two F-16 fighter jets in retaliation for its violation of Turkish air space is expected to be the major focus in the face-to-face talks between the two ministers.
The presidential sources have identified the war plane as Su-24 and said it violated the country's airspace despite being warned 10 times in the space of five minutes.
The war plane was downed in accordance with the rules of engagement by the two F-16 fighter jets. After being hit in Turkish air space, it has crashed near the Syrian border village of Yamandır, just located a few kilometres from the Turkish border.
Turkish armed forces announced that the war planes was downed at 09:24 am earlier on Tuesday.
The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed the Su-24 belonged to the Russian air force, but empathically rejected the reports the jet had violated Turkish air space while it was engaged in a flying mission. Officials from Turkish Foreign Ministry have refused to comment over how the plane crisis may affect Lavrov's visit to Turkey.
Turkey's embassy in Moscow stated that the two ministers will chair the 5th meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Group, a lower body of the Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council. Wednesday's gathering in Istanbul intends to review mutual ties between Ankara and Moscow as well as ongoing preparations for the upcoming meeting of the 6th Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council, scheduled to be held in Russia on Dec. 15, 2015.
Lavrov and Sinirlioğlu will also have a comprehensive exchange of views about the foreign policy-related issues which are of common interest to both countries. The Syrian crisis is also among the top items to be discussed during the meeting.
