ANKARA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences on Saturday to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Grozny terrorist attack.
Erdogan emphasized to Putin that Turkey, a country which has fought against the outlawed PKK, is against any act of terror.
Five police officers were killed and 12 others injured on October 5 in the Chechen capital, Grozny, when a suicide bomber blew himself up.
Sources from the Turkish Presidency told the Anadolu Agency that Erdogan also discussed bilateral relations and international developments with his Russian counterpart.
The Kremlin said in a statement that the discussion of international affairs focused on the threat posed by the ISIL terrorist group.
Erdogan also reminded Putin about the challenges facing Crimean Turks and asked him to show the necessary sensitivity when addressing their concerns.
The Kremlin's statement also confirmed that the fifth Russian-Turkish High Level Cooperation Council summit would be held in Turkey by the end of the year.
The High-Level Cooperation Council, set up in 2011, is an intergovernmental cooperation mechanism that lays the foundation for the strategic partnership between Russia and Turkey. It aims to increase the trade volume between the two nations to $100 billion by 2020.
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