Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on August 10 that Ankara and Moscow share similar views on the need for a cease-fire in Syria, the provision of humanitarian aid, and a political solution to end the Syrian war.
He said Turkey and Russia are building a "strong mechanism" for cooperation on Syria.
Cavusoglu made the remarks a day after a meeting in St. Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He said a delegation from Turkey's Foreign Ministry was continuing talks with Russian officials on August 10.
Russia supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Turkey opposes the Syrian leader.
Russia and Turkey have also been at loggerheads since Ankara downed a Russian warplane near Turkey's border with Syria in 2015.
But Erdogan and Putin on August 9 vowed to rebuild ties between their countries.
Cavusoglu said improving ties with Russia was not meant as a message to Ankara's Western allies.
Turkey has been criticized by the European Union and Washington over Erdogan's crackdown on his political opponents after a failed coup in July.
Cavusoglu said on August 10 that the EU criticism was a serious mistake and that support for Turkey’s EU membership bid was declining among the Turkish people as a result.
