Turkey closed its air space to Russian military and civilian planes flying to Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists during his Latin American tour.

"We were giving permissions in three-month intervals. The latest one was until April," the Sabah newspaper quoted him as saying. The Turkish top diplomat stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had informed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the situation. "Henceforth the flights have stopped," he added, saying that the process is being conducted through dialogue on both the Montreux Convention and other matters.