Turkey closes airspace to military and civilian planes carrying troops from Russia to Syria

Turkey has closed its airspace to military and civilian planes carrying soldiers from Russia to Syria following consultations with Moscow, according to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Nato member Turkey has sought to act as mediator in the Ukraine conflict and maintains close ties to Ukraine and Russia.

Ankara had been giving Moscow clearance to fly through Turkish airspace in periods of three months up until April, but the flights have now been stopped.

Moscow and Kyiv are working on a “draft joint declaration,” the Turkish minister added, without providing further details.