(VOVworld) – In a letter to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized over last year's shooting down of a Russian air force jet by Turkey's military, with the effort to normalize relations with the country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: TTXVN)

In a press conference on Monday, The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Pesko said Erdogan expressed regret and asked the family of the deceased pilot to forgive Turkey’s action.  The Kremlin statement said Erdogan expressed his will to do everything necessary to restore the traditionally friendly ties between Turkey and Russia, and stated that Ankara never purposefully shot down Russian fighter jet.

Russia blamed Turkey for shooting down the warplane near the Turkey-Syria border in November last year, which worsened the two countries’ already tense relation since the Cold War. Putin ordered economic sanctions against Turkey and said that those measures would only be lifted if Erdorgan personally issued an apology. The Kremlin statement said Wednesday last week that Russia wanted to restore the relationship with Turkey but insisted that Ankara must first pay indemnity for the shoot-down.