Cavusoglu handed over the ban, which will remain in force for three months, to Moscow, according to local media.
Turkey has closed its airspace to Russian civilian and military planes flying to Syria, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by local media.
“We have closed the airspace to Russian military planes – and even civilian ones – flying to Syria. They had until April, and we asked for it in March, “Cavusoglu said on Saturday, quoting Turkish media.
Cavusoglu said he handed over the decision to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, who then handed it over to President Vladimir Putin.
“A day or two later, they said, ‘Putin has issued an order, we will not fly again,'” Cavusoglu told Turkish reporters aboard his plane for Uruguay.
Cavusoglu added that the ban would remain in place for three months.
There was no immediate response to a statement from Turkey, which, along with Iran, was a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s war.
Turkey backed Syrian rebels during the conflict.
Ankara’s relations with Moscow briefly deteriorated after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Turkish-Syrian border in 2015.
However, they improved until Russia invaded Ukraine, which Turkey sees as an important trading partner and diplomatic ally.
Turkey is trying to mediate an end to the conflict by hosting meetings between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul and another between Lavrov and Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba in Antalya.
Ankara is now trying to hold a summit in Istanbul between Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, although Cavusoglu has acknowledged that prospects for such talks remain unclear at the moment.
“If they want a deal, it is inevitable,” Cavusoglu was quoted as saying. “It may not happen for a long time, but it can happen suddenly.
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