Vladimir Putin

The downing of a Russian war plane by the Turkish air force on the Turkish-Syrian border on Nov. 24 opened a new chapter in Turkey's political discussions.

The first face-to-face meeting which took place between senior Turkish and Russian officials in Belgrade on Dec. 3 has proven the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who suggested Moscow's reaction to Turkey's downing its warplane would not be a short-term act. 

As Americans say, it takes two to tango. Now we also have to know that it takes two to crisis.

The tension between Turkey and Russia, which has been going on for 10 days, revealed it is impossible to escalate a crisis if one of the two sides tries insistently to control it. 

The Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Dec. 3 denied recent claims by the Russian Defense Ministry that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group has been selling oil to Turkey, stating that the trucks in the footage shown by Russia were actually carrying oil from the KRG to Turkey's Ceyhan port.

The Russian government decree, which suspends employment of Turkish nationals in Russia, will not cover employers included in a list, which will be approved by the government later as well as labor migrants working legally within the Russian Federation as of Dec. 31, 2015, Russia's Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin said on Dec. 3, as reported by TASS News Agency. 

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced Turkey and Azerbaijan's intentions to complete the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) ahead of schedule.

Initial estimates had suggested the project would be completed by 2018.

Despite the Turkish and Russian foreign ministers, Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and Sergey Lavrov, meeting in Belgrade on Dec. 3 - marking the first high-level contact between the two countries since the downing of a Russian jet for violating Turkish air space on Nov. 24 - tension keeps escalating. One result is the ongoing military pile up in the region.

"When two madmen see eye to eye, each one hides his stick from the other," (Old Turkish Proverb).

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting with his Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Belgrade, TASS reported on Thursday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had heard "nothing new" from his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu on Dec. 3 after the first high-level bilateral contact between the two countries since the Turkish airforce shot down a Russian jet on Nov. 24.