U.S. President Barack Obama urged his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday to reduce tensions with Russian Federation while stressing U.S. support for its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally’s security.
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“The United States supports Turkey’s right to defend itself and its air space…”
Yet those hopes have been dampened by the spiraling diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Russia, sparked late last month when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane it said had violated its airspace along the border with Syria. “We all have a common enemy, and that is ISIL, and I want to make sure that we focus on that threat”, Obama said. “But I am asking Mr. Putin, would you remain?” He also praised Turkey for generously accepting refugees fleeing violence in Syria, and credited Turkey with strengthening security along its border.
With Putin committed to keeping Assad in power in Damascus, Obama did not expect Russian warplanes to shift their focus soon to hitting Islamic State rather than other opposition groups.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree imposing economic sanctions against Turkey on Saturday.
However, it is important now for Ankara and Moscow to take measures to de-escalate the tensions.
Moscow has already deployed a land based air defence missile system just 50 miles from Turkey’s border in response to the jet downing fiasco. Yet he emphasized the need for Turkey and Russian Federation to “de-escalate” their conflict and not get distracted from the campaign against IS and efforts to resolve Syria’s long-running civil war. “That is ISIL”, Obama said.
Davutoğlu also said Russian Federation is turning the Syrian crisis into a “crisis between Russian Federation and Turkey”. He said more than 500 civilians had been killed recently in an area where he said Islamic State fighters are not operating.
In the meantime, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the AP that the downing of the Russian jet by Turkey has not only frayed what were previously warm ties between Russia and Turkey, but has also put a strain on the peace talks for Syria that are taking place in Vienna.
Qabil said that vegetables and fruits represent 66 per cent of Turkish exports to Russian Federation, followed by clothes and leather.
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Erdogan said following the meeting with Obama that tension with Russian Federation was harming both countries. “Let’s keep diplomatic channels open”, Davutoglu told a news conference before departing on an official visit to northern Cyprus.
