Erdogan calls on Russia and Azerbaijan to exercise restraint.

On July 5th, Turkish President Erdogan stated that Turkey is closely monitoring the increasingly tense relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, and called on both sides to exercise restraint to avoid escalating the situation. He made these remarks while on his way back to Turkey from Azerbaijan, during an interview on a private jet. Erdogan told the International News Agency that Turkey maintains deep diplomatic and strategic relations with both Russia and Azerbaijan. He further emphasized his hope that recent unpleasant events will not cause "irreversible damage" to the relationship between the two countries, and stated, "We call on both countries to exercise restraint." Recently, tensions have been rising between Russia and Azerbaijan. Russia has arrested several Azerbaijani migrants in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of involvement in organized crime groups. Subsequently, Azerbaijani authorities arrested staff members of the "Russian Satellite Communications-Azerbaijan" branch in Baku, as well as several Russian IT experts. It is reported that during the arrests, Russian citizens were subjected to violence.