Mr Gul expressed his profound condolences at the mass deaths of civilians in South Ossetia and his hope for swift normalisation of the situation. The Turkish President highly appraised Mr Medvedev’s decisions, including those taken together with the European Union, and expressed Turkey’s willingness to facilitate the implementation of the conflict resolution principles that all the parties have agreed to.

The two Presidents agreed to continue cooperation between Russia and Turkey in the interests of stability and security in the region.

The conversation took place at Turkey’s initiative.