Kadyrov: "I met with Turkish FM and MIT Chief in Sochi"

The Head of the Chechen Republic stated that he met with the Turkish Foreign Minister and the head of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT) during the talks of Russian and Turkish presidents in Sochi on Friday.

Ramzan Kadyrov said :

"I had an unofficial yet fruitful meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Turkish National Intelligence Agency Chief Hakan Fidan, in which we concluded that close relations should be established between Turkey and the Chechen Republic in several fields."

He continued:

"Minister Cavusoglu expressed his wish that this unofficial meeting serves as the beginning of improving relations between the two countries."

Kadyrov added that he was invited to Turkey and he accepted the invitation.

The Chechen Republic, a small Caucasian country of about 1.4 million, had gained de facto independence after the First Chechen War of 1994-96, which left tens of thousands of civilians dead, but Russian federal control was restored after the Second Chechen War of 1999-2009 that left over 23,000 combatants dead on both sides.

Ramzan Kadyrov is the son of former Chechen President Ahmad Kadyrov who switched sides in the Second Chechen War to ally with Russia.

Under a strategy implemented to get rid of Chechen insurgents, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reportedly established a "green corridor" in mid 2010s to allow large numbers of insurgents to migrate first to Turkey, and then to Syria to fight in the ranks of jihadist groups.