Russian diplomats were in constant contact with the management of NTV on the situation with the journalists of the TV channel detained in Turkey, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on the air of the radio "Komsomolskaya Pravda".
"Our embassy and the Consulate General were dealing with [the situation] and were, of course, working in close coordination with the TV channel. Both colleagues and the management of the channel, in my opinion, did not sleep at all these days. So, we were always in touch," she said.
In connection with this incident, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation pointed to the need to comply with the procedure for obtaining visas and accreditation during working trips abroad. "The second point is the procedure for filming specialized objects if such are in the filming plans. This is how the laws work in each country, you just need to know them," Zakharova stressed.
She drew attention to the difficulties in solving the situation with journalists. "I don't really know what is more complicated: when people don't violate any rules and become victims of some political pressure, blackmail and so on <...> or when your fellow citizens, including journalists, violate accreditation rules, visa rules", the diplomat said.
On 4 December, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation informed that Russian journalists Alexey Petrushko and Ivan Malyshkin, who were in Istanbul, stopped communicating. Later, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source told TASS that they were detained by local policemen for not having accreditation during the filming near the building where Baikar Savunma, the drone manufacturing company, is located. The journalists were released from custody on December 7 and returned to Russia on December 8.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS