Meeting Russian citizens living in Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu assured them that strained relations between the two countries would return to the "good old days" one day and that Russia was an important country for Turkey, "which acts patiently and has not taken a negative step" since the start of the crisis between the two countries.On Sunday, Çavuşoğlu was in his hometown of Antalya, a popular Mediterranean city among Russian expatriates. He met representatives of a local Russian non-profit organization formed by expatriates at a time of a new low in relations between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian jet that violated its airspace in November.He said Turkey strived to "conclude this process," referring to the Kremlin's anger that led to sanctions against Turkey and alleged mistreatment of Turks in Russia.He said that Turkey built relations with Russia in the past 15 years "brick by brick" and that the leaders of both countries significantly contributed to this improvement in relations."People of both countries should not be affected by what happened in our relations. Unfortunately, we saw [maltreatment] of Turkish citizens in Russia and conveyed our worries to the Russian Foreign Ministry on this matter. I just met three Turkish students expelled from a Russian university. They are now looking for a new school. My Russian counterpart [Sergey] Lavrov told me it was wrong, and they would take measures," Çavuşoğlu said at the meeting with members of the Russian Association of Culture and Arts, which is based in Antalya."Turkey never took any negative steps toward Russia. But nobody should think that we are quiet because we are guilty. Russia is an important partner for us. That is why we act patiently," Çavuşoğlu said. "No one can sever ties between two peoples, neither politicians nor any other one. We will be patient for a while, and everything will be better," he said.Irina Balcı, head of the association, said Antalya was affected most in the crisis between the two countries, as it is a city where Russians both work in tourism and visit as tourists as well as a city exporting agricultural produce to Russia, which imposed sanctions on Turkish produce. "Russians will not be able to taste good fruit and vegetables from Turkey and will not be able to spend vacation here. We pray this crisis ends as soon as possible," Balcı said, adding that they appreciated locals bonding with them after the start of the crisis.