MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday offered his condolences over the passing of the USSR’s first and only president Mikhail Gorbachev, the Kremlin press-service reported.
"The Turkish leader offered his condolences over the death of former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and highlighted his influential role in recent Russian and global history," the press service said in a statement.
The USSR’s first and only president passed away on August 30 at the age of 91. A funeral service is currently taking place in Moscow. Putin bid farewell to Gorbachev at the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital on Thursday. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier explained the decision was due to some constraints of the president’s work schedule.